James Tarkowski has revealed how Everton’s squad ‘parked’ their Premier League points deduction fallout.
Thursday’s win over Newcastle elevated Sean Dyche’s side out of the relegation zone just three weeks after their landmark sporting sanction.
The ruling for the Blues’ breach of financial fair play regulations has cast a shadow over the club since it was announced towards the end of last month.
But Tarkowski insists that the mentality in the Goodison Park dressing room was one of total focus as they sought to claw back their double-digit deficit.
He said: “We have just parked it, really.
“It is what it is. We can’t affect it. We are players and can’t deal with all the legal stuff in the background.
“We just accepted what was coming and we will see what happens. All we can do is stick points on the board.
“We had a short meeting, but then got on the training pitch and just trained. Very simplistic.
“We are players and we are there to play football, not to deal with anything in the background, and that is what we have been doing.”
After pulling clear of the drop zone, Everton are now being heavily tipped to comfortably avoid relegation despite struggling in consecutive campaigns.
Tarkowski, however, admits that while Dyche’s charges are aware they are enjoying a rich vein of form, no one is taking the state of play for granted.
He added: “The league table is the league table.
“People say we will be fine or we won’t be fine. Our job as players is to get on that pitch, perform and put points on the board.
“After the 38th game of the season, we will have a look at where we are, and then we will judge our season on that.
“We know we are in a good place right now. We have lost a few players, but players have come in and performed, just like the players who have missed out.
“Everyone is ready to play. Whoever is playing, whether it is myself, someone else, or whoever, everyone is ready to go on that pitch and perform for this team.”