Pienaar rues missed chances

21 December 2009 15:23
Despite dominating Sunday's 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham, they had only Diniyar Bilyaletdinov's early strike to show for their efforts.[LNB]Even when Louis Saha had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, manager David Moyes was confident his side would go on to win because of the way they were playing.[LNB]But the second goal did not materialise and Sebastian Larsson's equaliser cost the Toffees victory and left them only two points above the relegation zone.[LNB]"If you play at home, you have to take three points from games like this to get out of the position we are in, and it is very frustrating," said the South Africa midfielder.[LNB]"We had chances and we could have scored two or three but that's football.[LNB]"We played some good football and had a lot of possession but we just didn't have the killer instinct."[LNB]Pienaar added in the Liverpool Echo: "Birmingham was a good chance to get all three points and now we have to go all the way to Sunderland (on Boxing Day) to try to get a win.[LNB]"That's not going to be easy the way they are playing at home and (manager) Steve Bruce is doing a good job.[LNB]"It's going to be tough but we need to keep going."[LNB]Everton have won only once in 11 league matches and Moyes has already admitted he is concerned about the club becoming embroiled in a relegation battle.[LNB]But, with their injury crisis showing no signs of abating, the Toffees boss has told the players who are currently fit they have to take on the responsibility of getting the club out of trouble.[LNB]"I'm concerned because we're in the wrong part of the league but I've been concerned for a month or two," said the Scot.[LNB]"The injured players might not be back, so if they don't come back in time then you have to win your games now.[LNB]"You can't be waiting on other people coming to help. That's the message I've been trying to put out.[LNB]"I did say a month ago that if we're not careful we could end up at the wrong end of the table - and we are at the wrong end of the table.[LNB]"It is a different challenge for the players now. They have to realise that's the position we're in just now."[LNB]Birmingham, by contrast, have been the form team of the Premier League and, although Sunday's result ended a run of five successive victories, they are still unbeaten in nine.[LNB]That has partly been due to the influence of centre-backs Roger Johnson and Scott Dann, who were again in excellent form at Goodison Park.[LNB]"We're unbeaten in nine, which is some record," said Johnson.[LNB]"We want to keep that going and get to the points total we've set ourselves to stay in the league, and we're that much closer.[LNB]"We're in seventh place going into Christmas and we would have taken that at the start of the season."[LNB]Johnson, 26, is pleased with the way his partnership with Dann has developed.[LNB]"We're both young, although he's a bit younger (22), and we have made the step up from the Championship," he told bcfc.com.[LNB]"Both of us wanted the chance and both of us have taken it so far. I'm finding life in the Premier League good. I want to play as many games (as) the manager will pick me for and hopefully it will continue."[LNB][LNB] Everton v Burnley. Click here to bet.  

Source: Team_Talk