‘We look a bit more defensively sure’

Defender James Tarkowski has said Everton are a “work in progress” but he is pleased with the positive strides made by the team in recent weeks.

Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Fulham was a fifth Premier League game without defeat for the Toffees, who had started the season with four consecutive losses.

“We’re a work in progress, like every team,” said the former Burnley centre-back. “We’re slowly getting to where we want to be but it takes time. We’re not going to perform to our best every week. Ideally we want to win every game but that’s five unbeaten now.

“We look a bit more defensively sure, I know Fulham had a few chances [on Saturday] but I don’t feel we’re as open as we did early in the season. We’re working towards getting to a level where we can pick up results consistently and we’re sort of getting there now.”

Tarkowski conceded that Everton were not at their best against Fulham but Sean Dyche’s side secured a point thanks to Beto’s late equaliser.

He added: “In my time here, in previous years that would have been a defeat – especially my first season when every time we went down, we never seemed to get back into games.

“It’s a sign of the progress we’ve made but there is a lot more work to be done.”

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds