James Tarkowski makes 'desperate' Everton point after Newcastle draw extends run

James Tarkowski says that Everton were “desperate to win” against Newcastle but praised the “squad mentality” which was crucial in ensuring the Blues came away from St James’ Park with a point.

The defender captained his side throughout the 90 minutes as Everton avoided a fourth consecutive league defeat, though their winless run has now extended to a record-breaking 13 Premier League games.

However, Tarkowski recognised the point away at a difficult ground as a valuable one in the relegation fight.

He said: “Every point is valuable. We’re desperate to win, like every everyone is, but we knew [that] this is a tough place to come. I know they’ve got a lot of injuries, but this has been one of the toughest places in the league to come, especially since the takeover here.

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“[A] good point on the board, we had a few chances, that sort of day, [a] good game, and we’ll take the point and move on.

“We’ll take the positives from the game, we’ve come back against a team who’ve just beat West Ham at the weekend and have got a good record at home, so we move on and then we go again at the weekend.”

The draw moves Everton four points clear of 18th-place Luton Town, who travel to Arsenal tonight. Nottingham Forest’s win against Fulham, though, means the gap to 17th is now just one point.

The Blues had to navigate a tricky initial period at Newcastle, which saw Alexander Isak give the hosts the lead after 15 minutes.

“I didn’t think we were too far away,” Tarkowski said of the first half performance. “We know they're gonna make chances, they have