Ronald Koeman believes a realistic expectation of Everton is a spot in Europe next season.

The Toffees defeated Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light on Monday night to move up to third position on the Premier League table, indicating to new manager Koeman that sitting up with England's elite should be his side's goal this campaign.

"I think we will be one of the teams that will fight for European football," the Dutchman told Sky Sports.

"I think that is a realistic target and we showed that in the second half but if we play like the the first half then we will be 13th or 14th place.

"We need to fight for European football and the players showed the level they can be."

Romeu Lukaku scored a second-half hat-trick courtesy of assists from Idrissa Gana Gueye, Yannick Bolasie and Kevin Mirallas to open his scoring account for the Toffees this term.