Everton boss Sam Allardyce admits this season is already a "write off".'

While he regards Everton as safe from the drop, the thrashing at Arsenal has left Allardyce struggling for targets.

Allardyce said: “We've got to write this season off as quick as we can by staying in the Premier League and then sorting out for the start of next season.

“There are things I can try if we can get safe quick and start performing like we did on Wednesday and try and finish in the top half and not putting any more pressure on ourselves by starting slipping down the table.

“There are too many inconsistency levels in our performances at the moment."

He added: “I can take the criticism, it's no problem to me. I can tell you this though, as a man who tactically looks at every single area to play against the opposition, all those who said we should have played a back four, go look at what Swansea did against Arsenal with a back five on Tuesday. Systems will mean nothing if the players play c***."