Everton hero Demare Gray hails ‘massive buildup’ in relegation battle | everton

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Demare Gray described Everton’s draw with Manchester City on Saturday as a “massive boost” in their attempt to halt a poor run of results and move away from relegation troubles.

Gray’s stunning 64th-minute goal sealed Frank Lampard’s side at the Etihad Stadium – it was only the second of the last possible 15 points and followed a devastating 2-1 defeat at the hands of Wolves at Goodison Park on Boxing Day.

“It will be a huge boost for the team on the back of their recent performance,” said Gray. “Manchester City are one of the best teams in the world so we’ve shown our quality and with the fans, obviously, supporting us all the way but as a team we’re taking that performance into the next game. On the back of our recent performances it’s been a huge improvement in terms of football.

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“Obviously when you come to Etihad you have to change your game plan a little bit but we stuck with it really well. We got our reward with the goal and then we dug deep, so there are a lot of positives to take. I don’t think when we only play City it’s Part of our character and the essence of the club, we fight and search deep to achieve results. We left everything there.”

Upcoming Everton host Brighton on Tuesday and Gray insist the players stay behind Lampard as they are determined to endure a second successive campaign spent fighting relegation, after surviving last season with one game to go. “We went through a lot of difficult moments,” said the 26-year-old. “Last season we showed our character and we don’t want to be in that situation again this year.

“It’s been a bit up and down but we’ve shown real quality with our performances this season, it’s just about keeping our standards high and performing to that kind of level as often as we can and if we do that we’ll get more quality results.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin impressed against City on his first start since late October after long-term injury troubles. “It’s a big part of our plan,” Gray said of the centre-forward. “It was one of those games where you can’t do a lot attacking wise and he had to change shifts and work for our moments but it’s good that he’s there and I’m happy for him to get some minutes.

“He had a hard time. It’s a pity because he did everything right, he takes care of himself. He had a bit of bad luck so I’m glad he’s back.”

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