Everton defender Sylvain Distin has called on fans to recognise how far they've come in the last 12 months.

Distin insisted there had to be a sense of perspective as at the same stage last season they were 14th position after eight defeats.

"I know a lot of people will moan at us for not winning games but they have to remember where we were at this time last season," he told evertontv.

"We haven't conceded many goals, we are scoring more and we are sitting in a comfortable position. People are disappointed because we are out of the top four but look at the teams around us and see how much they spend each season and look how much we spend and every season we lose a big player.

"I think we can be proud. People have to be realistic. People might think I'm being pessimistic but I'm not - I want to win every single game and I want to play in the Champions League, who doesn't?

"But we have to be realistic and at the moment we are doing really well."