Tim Cahill has become the first Everton player to utter the infamous line 'we are too good to go down' in reference to the Toffees current plight, standing just three points above the drop zone.

The phrase, associated with long-established Premier League sides who feel that sense will inevitably prevail, come a point and rescue them from relegation, has come back to haunt the likes of West Ham and Newcastle in recent years.

David Moyes' side have lost four of their last six in the league, going down to the unfancied Hull last week before falling to an undeserved 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby, and are now perilously close to the bottom three.

But despite their poor run of results, the 29-year-old was happy with his side's performance against Liverpool and is sure that their position in the league table belies the fact that they are making strides in the right direction.

"I think that's the best we've played in a while. Our passing was good, we made lots of space with our movement and had two disallowed goals," said Cahill, according to the Daily Mail.

"I'm a lot more positive though - we played better football and had a much better attitude.

"We're in a lot of trouble - the only way we can get out of it is by playing and working our way out of it.

"We're too good to be in this position."

On balance, ExtraFootie would have to agree with the Australian, especially as Everton finished fifth last season with, current central defenders aside, a similar squad and first team to choose from.

However, be warned, Tim, the likes of Damien Duff, Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan, not to mention Alan Shearer, were probably thinking exactly the same thing this time last season. And look what happened to them!