Sean Dyche has acknowledged that both he and his Everton players must "give more" and "do better" if they are to avoid relegation from the Premier League, and he has also encouraged the Toffees fans to get behind his team in the final few weeks of the campaign.
With only six matches left to play, Everton sit 16th in the table and just two points above the relegation zone, although 18th-placed Luton Town have played a game more.
Amid off-field frustrations over the club's ownership and points deductions over alleged breaches of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules, Everton have won just one of their last 15 top-flight games and were thumped 6-0 by Chelsea in their most recent outing on Monday.
The pressure has somewhat mounted on Dyche in recent weeks, with his side struggling to grind out positive result and score goals - only basement club Sheffield United (30) have netted fewer goals than Everton (32) in the division.
Dyche claims that he was lauded by the Everton fans as the right man for the job earlier this season, but those views have quickly changed amid the club's poor run of form, and the 52-year-old believes that he still has to prove himself to the Goodison Park faithful.
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Dyche tasked with finding 'magic key' to unlock 'big club' Everton
Speaking at a press conference on Friday ahead of Sunday's relegation showdown at home to Nottingham Forest, Dyche said: "I'm still earning my spurs here. I've never taken being a coach for granted. I'm still in my infancy here and I'm currently not deemed to be doing a good job.
"But 15 games ago I was deemed the Messiah, I was doing okay and I had found the magic key. 15 games later, you're not. That's life in football, and that's my life in football.
"I've never questioned [the fans]. They travel, they make noise, they are with us, they question us and that's fine, that's part of being a fan. I wouldn't question the fans. I've got no problem. All I can ask is they stay as solid as they can with us.
"We have got to give more, I have got to give more. I understand that. But some of the stuff that I have no control over has affected us, there's no two ways about that. That's difficult. I can't control everything at the club. I can't control the Premier League or points deductions.
"But control on the pitch, we've got to do better and I've got to do better. They can hopefully continue to play their part as they have been doing."
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Asked if he has seen a reaction from his Everton players in training since their humbling defeat at Chelsea, Dyche added: "There were a lot of home truths - me included, by the way, about what I expect from myself, from the staff, and from the players, and realigning, saying: 'Right, you can only do it as a group. You can't do it as individuals'.
"The players have been disappointed. I must make that clear. It's a funny thing about football nowadays, [people asking] 'Do they care?' They care. Trust me, they care. I care deeply about what we're trying to achieve here.
"We've had a chat about it this morning to finish it off and go: 'Right, that's gone. We move forwards.'"
"The noise around here is so intense," Dyche continued. "Big badge, big club and that is what comes so I have got used to it. There are a handful of players that understand it differently.
"We have to start the process of correcting the story. It is a constant work in progress and there is a lot of hard to be done but it needs to be done quickly."
Everton, who have received a triple injury boost ahead of Sunday's game, beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the reverse fixture at the City Ground in December and will be looking to complete their first league double over the Tricky Trees since 1996-97.
Oliver Thomas
