‘Massive’ - Everton star reacts as Brighton win heaps pressure on Leeds United

Everton star Dwight McNeill looked forward to ‘a massive three games’ after his side dumped Leeds United into the Premier League relegation zone with a shock 5-1 win at Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Toffees were in stunning form on the South Coast as they raced into a three-goal lead by the time the half-time whistle had been blow thanks to a brace from Abdoulaye Doucoure and an own goal from Seagulls goalkeeper Jason Steele.

McNeil came to the fore in the second half as he scored twice either side of a consolation goal from Albion midfielder Alex Mac Allister to help Sean Dyche’s men ease to a win that has given a significant boost to their hopes of remaining in the Premier League.

The result means Leeds will head into Saturday’s home clash with Champions League contenders Newcastle United sat in the bottom three as their own relegation concerns were raised by results on Monday. Next up for Everton is a Goodison Park meeting with title favourites Manchester City and former Burnley star McNeil has challenged his side to ‘kick on’ from their win at Brighton.

He told BT Sport: “We started off so well. We couldn’t get off to a better start and it’s credit to the lads. We’ve been in a difficult position this year but it’s credit to us and we have to now build on this because there’s a massive three games ahead.

It’s massive, massive confidence for us. It’s now about us and kicking on. As a team, we’ve got to recover, come again in training because we know we have a massive game on Sunday and then a massive two games after that. We want to do it for ourselves and for the fans.”

Everton will round off their season with a visit to Wolves and a home game with Bournemouth following their home game with City.