Sunday 21 September 2014 15:47, UK
Goalkeeper Tim Howard insists Everton will not suffer a Europa League hangover in Sunday’s clash against Crystal Palace.
The Merseysiders play host to Palace in the Premier League this weekend, just a few days after starting their European campaign with a 4-1 home win over German side Wolfsburg.
But Howard is confident his team-mates will soon shrug off their fatigue as they attempt to continue a winning run which started with last Saturday’s 2-0 win at West Brom in the Premier League.
"It's a positive - if you win you can stay on a good winning streak, and if you lose there's another game right there for you to prove yourself,” said the USA international.
"I always think the more you play the less you have to train. Playing games keeps you ticking over and I feel when there's points to be had, it's easy to bounce back.
"These two results help. Against Leicester, Arsenal and Chelsea we played well but we were just a little bit frail in certain areas.
"We also knew if we could beat West Brom then double up and beat Palace we'd be right back in the thick of things so hopefully that will be the case."
Howard was denied a clean sheet by a late consolation strike for Wolfsburg, but this did not detract from the post-match praise he received from manager Roberto Martinez.
"Tim got a lot of credit in the World Cup for his performance against Belgium, but for Evertonians it was just declaring the obvious," said the Spaniard.
"They have always seen Tim at that level and I have seen it for 13 months now. He is always focused and has a real concentration, and he is enjoying a very good moment of form."
