Sam Allardyce claims missed opportunities were to blame for Everton’s defeat at Watford.
A 1-0 reversal at Vicarage Road continued the Blues’ abject away form with just one victory on the road all season in the Premier League.
Just seven points now separate Allardyce’s side from the Premier League relegation zone with 10 games now remaining in the current campaign
But the Everton manager cited profligacy as the driving factor in the Watford result with the visitors recording only one shot on target in 93 minutes.
“Squander your opportunities in the Premier League and you can pay the price,” said Allardyce.
“I think the opportunities we squandered with our lack of finishing in the oppositions final third ends up meaning that we lose the game 1-0.
“Which at the very least for me, we should’ve come off with a 0-0.
“Our problem away from home is not just the squandering of chance but that we are not picking up any results or enough results to pick enough points up, to get as safe as quick as we can.
“You look at the home results and you go, ‘Great, fantastic, 17 points out of the last eight home games’.
“But you look at the away results and you just go, ‘Wow, what is the difference?’ and the difference today was purely and simply that we didn’t have a finisher on the pitch good enough to put the ball in the back of the net and Watford did, with Troy Deeney’s great finish in the end.”