Everton take on Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday hoping to end a torrid away run which has seen them win just once on the road this season.
Toffees boss Sam Allardyce revealed in his pre-match presser today that he has brought in psychological assistance to help his players overcome their fear of away games.
“I think it’s fear away from home,” he said.
“I think the fear kicks in, which is why I thought we’d get a result against Burnley. Getting the first goal I thought would be the release.
“They are getting some help. We have used our in-house sports psychologist who has been here for quite some time and slowly he is integrating himself with some of the sessions with the players.
“I hope it will have an affect on how we achieve a result. I think everything in the world of football today revolves around coping with the pressure. The way you cope with the pressure is being able to focus, and if the sports psychologist allows them to focus on the positives rather than the negatives around them, then it gives them a better chance of delivering a performance.”
Could Everton’s poor away form really be down to fear? should more managers consult psychological help.
Perhaps Big Sam is onto something. Let’s see if he reaps the rewards.
Allardyce does have a number of injury concerns heading into the Stoke clash.
Gylfi Sigurdsson was reported to be out for up to eight weeks after picking up a knee injury against Brighton.
Allardyce has confirmed Sigurddson is out but denied he will be out as long as initially thought.
Maarten Stekelenburg (groin), Eliaquim Mangala (knee) and James McCarthy (leg) are also all out injured.
Ashley Williams is serving the second of his three-match ban.
There was some good news on the injury front as Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye have recovered from illness while Theo Walcott is should be match fit after returning from a calf injury.
