Everton manager Roberto Martinez has claimed that his team have benefitted from being out of the Europa League following their early-season struggles.
The Merseyside outfit's Premier League form was hampered by the schedule that had the team playing Thursdays and Sundays, but since their 5-2 defeat to Dynamo Kiev, Everton have won three and drawn one.
The Toffees' latest triumph came in the form of a convincing 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.
"It has been a big difference after the amount of time that we had to cope with the demands of Europe and the Premier League," the Liverpool Echo quotes Martinez as saying.
"By the end of January we got into the right mentality to cope with both competitions. We won both league games either side of the first Dynamo Kiev game and I thought we had got the right mentality to cope with both competitions, but it has been difficult."
In the league, Everton are 10th in the table with four games left to play.