Jagielka and high-flying Everton stay grounded

The Premier League table makes for pleasant reading at the moment for Everton, but Phil Jagielka is not going to get carried away.

The Toffees currently sit second in the standings with four wins and a draw from their first five league games under new boss Ronald Koeman.

If results go their way they could sit top of the table come the end of this weekend as the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Bolasie have terrorised defences in the early skirmishes of this campaign.

But Jagielka, 34, knows better than most that defensive grit will make all the difference if Everton are to continue their storming start to the campaign.

“It’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed looking at the league table but we are not looking at other people’s results yet,” Jagielka said.

“We need to keep going, keep grinding out the wins.

(Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

“If we have a look at the table 10 to 12 games in when that will give a rough idea of how everyone’s starts have gone. We are only five games in – a good five games – but if we don’t do well between now and Christmas then the start doesn’t count for anything.

“We’ve kept in games and then won games when we’ve not played as well as we could have done. With the attacking talent we have got – Romelu Lukaku and Yannick Bolasie have done fantastically well these last few games – it’s up to us at the back to keep the opponents out so they can get the headlines and win the game for us.”