Everton captain Phil Neville has told teammates talk is cheap in their present predicament.

Neville, who has been restricted to two appearances this year due to injury, has told his players to forget about Europe and realise that their immediate priority should instead be to claw themselves out of the relegation zone quickly.

"There are no excuses. No hiding places. We don't deserve to win these football matches at the moment," Neville told the Liverpool Echo.

"We didn't win at Blackburn - hard luck. We didn't win at Wolves - hard luck. We couldn't beat Villa - hard luck. Everyone says we're playing well but not winning games. Forget all that rubbish now - it's got to the point where it's time to realise where we are.

"Forget Champions League football, forget Europa League football. Focus on Saturday and just winning. Maybe at the start of the season we looked at the end of the season rather than concentrating on the now."