Everton gloveman Tim Howard believes the way his side begins the upcoming season will have a huge influence or where they finish.
Roberto Martinez's Everton finished fifth two seasons ago, but slumped to an 11th-placed finish in 2014/15 after winning just one of their first seven games.
Howard, speaking in Singapore on the Toffees' tour of Asia, said a fast start this time around will be vital if the team are to learn from the shortcomings of last campaign.
"Anytime you start bad, it's probably not going to end well, no matter how hard you try," Howard said.
"This is not a pushover league where you can say 'we'll take three points there'.
"In other leagues you can recover those points. That's not how it works in the Premier League.
"You don't have to have an amazing start but you certainly can't drop as many points we did."
