What happened during Everton team meeting after 10-point penalty

Dwight McNeil has claimed Everton’s 10-point deduction for a breach of the Premier League’s financial rules has provided additional fuel for Sean Dyche’s team in their fight to avoid relegation.

Everton remain stunned by the severity of the punishment they received last month for breaching permitted losses by £19.5m over a three-year period up to 2021/22. The club’s appeal against the biggest sporting sanction in Premier League history has already been lodged.

The punishment meant the Blues dropped immediately from 14th in the table to second-bottom. And they would remain there after they were beaten by Manchester United in their first match since the punishment was confirmed.

Anthony Gordon has proved me right over £105 million Everton transfer failures

Everton will bounce back from disgraceful points deduction - we are the best club in the Premier League

However, a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday evening lifted Everton up a place in the table, and two points from safety.

Asked about the team's response to the points deduction, McNeil replied: “We had a meeting about it as a group on what’s gone on and what we were going to do about it, and we all decided to not let it affect us.

“If anything, it’s fuelled us more. We know we have minus-10 points, but we’ve just taken it on - especially on Saturday because that's a massive three points away from home.

“We have to keep going and forget about it, and just concentrate on us, taking it a game at a time. We know this period of the season is vital. There are a lot of games around Christmas so we have to keep going as a team.”

McNeil, who scored his side’s winning goal against Steve Cooper’s team, continued to evertontv: “I think it’s having the