James Tarkowski said Everton must ignore speculation concerning their appeal against a 10-point deduction after the Toffees fought back for a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Crystal Palace.
Everton were deducted 10 points in November after being found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, a penalty the club immediately appealed against.
They welcomed Palace to Goodison Park for a huge relegation six-pointer on Monday, with Amadou Onana’s late header salvaging a draw for the Toffees after Jordan Ayew hit a stunning opener.
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That result lifted Sean Dyche’s men out of the bottom three on goal difference, and they will hope to see their position further boosted in the coming days when the outcome of their appeal is made public.
While supporters are waiting nervously on that announcement, Tarkowski says the players are focused purely on picking up points on the pitch.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the defender said: “The manager has been excellent with it. We were off when it was announced, we got back in and had a quick meeting about it and parked it quickly.
“I don’t think we can try and pre-empt it too much. The manager is very good at focusing us on matters on the pitch. Nobody really knows what is going to happen.
“We can’t say that we’re going to get points back, so we’re focusing on the points we have got. Time will tell.”
The points are shared at Goodison Park 🤝#EVECRY PIC.TWITTER.COM/D6NFTKEWSX
— Premier League (@premierleague) FEBRUARY 19, 2024
Everton produced a largely flat performance on Monday but put Palace under severe pressure after Onana equalised six minutes from time, only to fail to find a winner.
While Tarkowski was disappointed with the result overall, he acknowledged Everton would have taken a point when they fell behind.
“After being 1-0 down we would have taken it,” he said. “Obviously before the game we were looking for the win. We had a lot of the ball but didn’t create too much.
“We’re disappointed with it, but we will take the point. They went with three at the back, when we got the ball wide and the delivery wasn’t on point they outnumbered us a bit.
“It has been a difficult run but we have picked up a few points so hopefully there are some more wins on the way now.”
