Ahead of Everton’s clash with Manchester United at Goodison Park on Sunday (7pm BST), left-back Vitalii Mykolenko sat down to preview the match, as well as discuss the influence of First-Team Coach Ashley Cole, the areas he wishes to improve in and the important influence of two summer signings...
Vitalii, we're back at Goodison on Sunday and it feels like we're in a good moment, having won our past two matches and going unbeaten in the past seven...
Yes, we've won our past two games which is what we wanted. Against Southampton, maybe we didn't play great but we won away and that's a great feeling. Before the West Ham game we had four draws in the league and we really wanted that win. It was important for our confidence. After getting that, we followed it up at Southampton, which is what we need to be doing. Now our focus is on the next game to keep it going.
You've started every league game so far this season. How important for your form are those consistent starts?
It is but I want to play better, because I know sometimes I've made mistakes in matches. That's normal for all players. But I want to play better in the next game, for sure. We've got a good opponent in Manchester United and I'm confident I can be better.
You have one of the best left-backs in Premier League history as a coach in Ashley Cole. How important has he been for you?
Straight after this interview we our having a meeting! We speak a lot about my game, about my body shape, my movements... I watch clips of Ashley when he used to play for Chelsea and study them. He was aggressive and I want to be like he was - I want to play more in attack. In the last games, I didn't play well in attack and he was one of the best in that sense.
On the other side of the pitch, you have Club captain Seamus Coleman. What is he like to play with?
Seamie is a big captain and a fantastic human. I watch how he plays all of the time. When we played at Southampton last week, he's a big help and he gives me confidence on the pitch - and he's a great defender.
Elsewhere in defence, James Tarkowski and Conor Coady seem to have picked up the nicknames as dads of the squad in the past couple of weeks! Is that fitting?
They really are like dads! Tarky and I speak a lot on the pitch because we play next to each other - he's a great guy. Sometimes he uses some slang I can't understand - but we always get our points across because we both understand football. Coady has given us big confidence as well. He speaks a lot in the dressing room and he's great for us and our team. Also, he speaks slower than Tarky, so it's a bit easier for me to understand!
A big match up next with Manchester United the visitors at Goodison. What are you expecting from it?
They're the next team in front of us, it's that simple. We want to win. It'll be a difficult match but we're at Goodison and we know our fans will create a very good atmosphere for us to play. We will all be together going for the win. We don't need to over-think anything, we are at the start of a long season and we just need to go for three points.
