Sean Dyche remains confident that Everton’s promising performances will be repaid with wins – insisting there is a "growing belief" amongst his players.

The Blues welcome Crystal Palace to Goodison Park on Monday night (8pm GMT), with both sides looking to rebound from defeats last time out.

Everton have been short of victories lately, but have endured a tough run of games, facing three of the Premier League’s current top-five teams during their past four league outings, earning draws against Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, while falling short at Manchester City last weekend.

Nevertheless, Everton have performed positively, both offensively and defensively, ranking ninth in the league for both shots (327) and non-penalty expected goals (36) across the season, while only Arsenal and Liverpool (both 15) have conceded fewer goals from open play than the Toffees (16).

Just five points separate Everton and Palace heading into Monday’s game, and Dyche notes that although the "noise" surrounding the match may be heightened, his squad’s mindset will remain consistent – a characteristic that the Everton manager says is improving.

“I think the noise around it changes, but, at the end of the day, the mentality we’ve been trying to build here is that every game is a big game here; every game is an important game, so we find that consistency in the mentality of the group,” said Dyche, speaking in Saturday's pre-match press conference.

“I think there’s a belief in the group. It’s not just my belief in them. I think their ownership of it has grown. As a group, I think their demands have risen. They demand more from each other and I think that’s given some positives.

“Sometimes, your job as managers, coaches, and players, is it look through the actual outcome and result, and see what we’re doing; see what the performances are. I think we’ve played some very tough sides, and we’ve a very small margin away from winning, certainly a couple of those games.

“All the noise – xG, and I have used it myself because the level of it has been extraordinary – but you have to put it into action. I’ve spoken to the players endlessly about it.  Even my words – the idea of good xG, good performances, and all that – that’s all well and good. But we can’t wait for it to happen. You have to make it happen and that’s the next step. I think we’re very close to that.”

Monday evening’s encounter represents the fourth meeting between Everton and Crystal Palace this season. The Blues earned a late victory in the reverse Premier League fixture at Selhurst Park, while also advancing over two legs in the FA Cup.

Despite the frequency of games – the most recent of which occurred one month ago – Dyche doesn’t expect that to have much impact in Monday’s game.

“I think most people in the Premier League know what each other are about," he said. "Obviously, a change of coaches and managers changes things sometimes, but generally speaking, most teams know what each other are about.

“It’s about delivering a performance. I speak to our players about it all the time. We have to perform, and that’s been an idea I’ve been speaking about to the group since I got here – the consistency of performances, as well. I think it’s been pretty good this season. Turning those consistent performances into wins is the challenge. We’ve done that somewhat this season. We have to do it again.”

The Eagles head to Merseyside while uncertainty remains around Roy Hodgson’s managerial position. Media reports across the weekend suggest the club could be ready to replace Hodgson after a run which has seen Palace pick up three wins in their past 19 in all competitions.

Nevertheless, Dyche affirmed that his focus is primarily on his players and ensuring they “take the game on”.

“I think the mentality has to be right for us,” he added. “If anything is not right their end, then it’s nothing to do with us. If it unbalances their situation, then it’s helpful, but equally, you can turn it the other way. Will they galvanise from that situation? Who knows?

“There is an awareness of the opposition and a tactical understanding, but we’ve always kept the straight-forward thinking that it’s about us. We have to make the game about us – particularly at Goodison. We want to take the game on and we have to have that mentality.

“The players are aware. The coverage of everything in football is so vast, so they’re all aware of the situation. We focus on what we’re doing."