Everton stuck 'in a bit of a rut'

It is messy at Everton right now. I can't remember the last time a Sean Dyche side has conceded the amount of goals and lost games in the manner that they have in recent matches so something is not right at the moment.

I played at Everton for a long time and I know their fan base is unbelievable, but there will be pressure from fans at the moment and many thinking that Dyche is the problem and he needs to get out.

But, at times like this, players also need to take responsibility. When you have been up in games like they have and then lost in the way they have, players need to take on-field decisions, manage these games and be able to see them out, to take control of situations.

Dyche certainly is under a lot of pressure now and the difficulty with Everton is that they have been in a relegation battle for the past few seasons and when you have been down at the bottom and there hasn't really been any change or injection of new signings to help get out of that spell, it is hard to see a different direction.

I had a similar experience when I was at Everton where we just went on a long run of games where we just couldn't win. It didn't matter what we did, what we tried to change, something just wasn't clicking and you really can start to get dragged down with that situation.

It is difficult to overcome, even if you're playing well. Just like when you are on a winning streak and everything comes naturally. Everton are in the opposite of that right now and in a bit of a rut. It might just take one result to shift that momentum.

But with the situation at the club right now, I'm not sure how much of that will change until a takeover happens. When you also consider they are moving to the new stadium, they will not want to be playing there in the Championship.

There is work to be done, but we are only four games into the season and Dyche will be approaching it with a 'let's not panic' attitude.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson