Thursday 7 November 2019 15:07, UK
Marco Silva cut short discussion of his Everton side's set-piece woes saying the "negativity" is affecting his players' mentality.
Silva's side have now conceded a league-high 12 goals from set plays this season after Manchester City took the lead in their 2-0 win at Goodison Park courtesy of an Aymeric Laporte header from David Silva's free-kick.
After initially saying his players needed to be more aggressive, Silva added: "I want to do is not speak more about this situation. What I want to speak about will stay with my players, we've spoken many times. Bad things are coming to us too easily, it's not normal.
"They work, they put focus on it, but sometimes it is so negative the bad things come to us and I want to be positive in this situation, because I know the players are working, they are prepared, they know.
"It's a matter for us to be more aggressive in that moment and more confident. Each set-piece is difficult for not just our players, but the fans and I understand why but we have to be stronger."
Everton were applauded off at full-time in stark contrast to the chorus of boos which greeted the final whistle of their 3-1 home defeat by Wolves on Saturday.
Silva took the positives out of a performance where his side registered only a single shot on target - but came close to frustrating the Premier League champions, too, who had to wait until the 97th minute to wrap up victory through Gabriel Jesus.
He said: "I keep really positive, the team gave the answer we must give, and the first words are to them and secondly to our fans.
"I saw Goodison bouncing in some moments, and at the end of the match what they did with our players I don't have doubts, our fans, our players working and we'll give them what they want and what they deserve."
