James Garner is featured in Saturday’s Official Matchday Programme for the visit of Aston Villa.
The Birkenhead-born star who came to Everton via Manchester United has been reliving the brilliant goal he scored to secure The Toffees’ win over Brighton in their first Premier League game at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium. But his wider contribution across the four senior games that he has played every minute of so far this season has drawn plaudits with an increase in confidence that has manifested itself in a greater degree of control exerted from midfield.
In the matchday programme feature, Garner gives a lot of the credit to David Moyes for setting higher goals for the players to achieve.
“He said to us on day one that he’s not come here to take over a team that’s fighting against relegation – he said it again on day one of pre-season,” reveals Garner. “He sets high standards and we know where we want to be. We’ve got a few more faces in over the summer and with the quality we have in the squad now, we all agree with the manager – if you want to achieve big things, then you’ve got to set your standards and your goals high.
“I think you can see it in us. There is a mentality shift. We’re playing with more confidence, going into games thinking how we are going to take all three points, it’s not just surviving. We’ve done that in these first few games. Obviously, the first game [against Leeds] felt like a blip, I don’t think we played well, but we’ve responded and now the aim is to keep building momentum.
“We want to keep winning and keep that winning mentality – that was the message in the changing room amongst all of us after the Wolves game.”
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