Sean Dyche has hailed the positive feeling and resilience within his squad as the reason for Everton's recent upturn in form.
The Toffees stretched their unbeaten run to four matches, following a comprehensive 2-0 win away to Ipswich last time out.
It sees Everton sitting five points clear of the drop zone in 16th, with the chance to match Fulham on points by managing victory.
The Cottagers have suffered defeats either side of the international break and are expected to face a tough test away at Goodison Park.
Form, Fulham and fitness were the three main topics that were delved into, as Dyche spoke ahead of Saturday's fixture.
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Confidence key to good form
Following a below-par start to the campaign, without a point or win from their opening four matches, Everton have since responded with an unbeaten run which has seen them take eight points from a possible 12 available.
The Blues early-season form took a hit with key names out down to injury, most notably in defence, in addition to the new faces from the summer transfer window taking time to adapt.
Positivity on the fitness front since then, combined with a gradual defensive improvement has seen Everton close the gap to within three points from the top-half.
A new-found confidence can bring a group together, something Dyche believes has been integral to picking up recent results.
"The players feel in the right place, training was good again today. Fitness helps, we’ve got players coming back to full fitness,” he said.
“I think all the form does is give a better feel to everything and everyone.”
The Toffees' boss also highlighted his team’s resilience to put behind their poor start to the season and begin to showcase their potential.
“It’s a real knock when you’re not winning games. But that’s what builds your resilience to sit here and do what I do.
“The players have had to build that, as well, and I think we’re showing signs of coming through it. We’re not the real deal and it’s never a given we’re ready for taking on the world.
“But I think, we’re showing once again that we’re a capable outfit and we can win games in the Premier League.”
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Successive wins the aim
This weekend’s clash proves not only a chance to increase Everton’s unbeaten stretch to five, but also secure back-to-back league victories for the first time this campaign.
Content with his side’s recent performances, Dyche believes a second straight victory on the board is firmly achievable.
“Well you certainly want to do that. We’ve suddenly found ourselves in a better position, not only in the league but the way we’re going about things.”
“I think we’ve done well in the last four games. We played better in some than others but found a way to get results.”
Despite the current form, Everton’s record against Fulham has left a lot to be desired - their last victory coming in November 2020.
Continuing the theme of records, the Toffees last home victory over Fulham came two seasons before that, ironically under current Cottagers boss Marco Silva.
Dyche was complementary of his opposite number but stressed the importance for his team to be threatening.
“I think they’ve done very well under Marco [Silva]. They’ve collected a group of players, spent money but they’ve spent wisely.
“They’ve got a style where they want to be progressive, they want to take on the opposition.
“They can also have flat days when it goes against them so we’ve got to make sure that we impact the game in that manner and perform.”
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Team News
The theme of Everton’s season so far has been injuries to a number of first-team names, especially in defence.
Jarrad Branthwaite’s absence has notably had a big impact, with the 23-year-old missing from every game except from the Toffees’ solitary win against Crystal Palace.
Dyche spoke on his anticipated return to the team, in addition to the other Everton squad members out of action.
"Jarrad has trained all week. I made a call on it last week and decided not to go with him in the squad because I think it was important for him to have a week's training, which he has done, so yes he will certainly be part of the squad.”
The likes of Tim Iroegbunam, James Garner and Armando Broja however are still working towards a return, according to the Everton boss.
On Iroegbunam’s timeframe, Dyche said: "We're looking at weeks, certainly weeks, because of the type of injury it is - it's a bone injury. We've just got to wait for it to settle.
“He's still in a boot at the moment. We're waiting on that to heal then get him back to training but it is going to be a number of weeks still yet.
"Jimmy [James] Garner, we're waiting on more news. Just a specialist view on a back injury so we're waiting on that.
"Broja is getting on the edge of coming into training, he's doing loads of work with the sports science team but not yet. We’ll see where that goes but we’re hopeful that will continue because he's making good progress.”
