Seamus Coleman believes Everton’s relegation battle has a ‘different’ feel.
Coleman scored the only goal in Saturday’s win over Leeds as Sean Dyche’s side escaped the Premier League’s bottom three for the first time in five weeks.
The Republic of Ireland international also scored the first top-flight goal of Frank Lampard’s reign in a 3-0 win against the same opponents a year earlier.
But Coleman feels that the experiences of 12 months ago, when the Blues avoided demotion, offers a fresh perspective on the club’s current struggles.
He said: “Unfortunately having been through it before, it does feel different this time.
“Maybe last year you’re carrying it so much on your shoulders and thinking ‘Oh my god, this club can’t be where it is’.
“But this year you realise that we’ve been here before, we know what it takes, we know that we’ve got to stick together – that’s the most important – and the manager’s played a big part in that in the last couple of weeks.
“The manager’s come in, he’s got experience, he’s tough, he’s confident in himself and he doesn’t get too high after that win.
“That’s not to say previous managers have got too high after wins – I just have to clear that up.”
Coleman’s strike, only his 28th in a 14-year spell at Goodison Park, saw Dyche’s side rack up back-to-back home wins move up to 16th in the table.
“It was important,” admitted the veteran right-back.
“I scored one against Leeds last year when we went 1-0 up and needed a win early on.
“But that felt big and someone put the scores up with about two minutes to go on the big screen which wasn’t great for our nerves!”