David Unsworth claims Everton are ‘desperate’ to again play at Goodison Park.
Sunday’s 4-1 defeat to Southampton continued a run of form for the manager-less Blues that has seen them win just once in seven games in all competitions.
Successive home matches lie ahead for Everton next week, with West Ham and Huddersfield Town both set to travel to Merseyside in the space of four days.
Defeat to the Hammers on Wednesday night could see David Moyes condemn his former club to a place back in the Premier League’s relegation zone.
But Everton caretaker Unsworth admits that a return to home comforts is urgenly needed for a team in the wake of their previous two win-less fixtures.
He said: “I think we’re in a tough moment. We have a massive week ahead.
“And we’re desperate to get back to home comforts and play in front of our home fans because I’ve never known a team that needs its fans more than our team does at the moment.
“The second and third goals were really poor. Teams at the moment are not having to work very hard to score against us.
“Whether we play three centre-backs, two centre-backs, a back three or a back four it doesn’t matter because individuals are under-performing and we are conceding far too many goals.
“Something’s not right when we are going into games because training has been great, there’s been good spirit and I’ve been getting everything I want out of them.
“But when we come into a game situation, because our confidence is very, very low, we are conceding far too easy for what is required at this level – the players know that.
“If they didn’t know they were in a tough situation they must do now. They must do – it’s evident. It’s a massive week for the club.
“It’s not good enough and it’s got to change. It has to change.”
Unsworth also highlighted his side’s inability to bounce back from Dusan Tadic scoring Southampton’s opener after less than 20 minutes of play.
“We don’t seem to have the resilience to deal with the early goal,” he admitted.
“We are in a poor moment. We have a massive week ahead with two home games. It’s a massive week”