Koeman and Everton hoping to frighten the top six

Ronald Koeman has called on his Everton side to strike fear into the top six this weekend if they can down Hull City and join the leading group.

The Toffees are currently seventh in the table but could leapfrog Manchester United into sixth with victory on Saturday – albeit having played two games more.

Koeman’s side have only lost one of their last 11 in the league and have won five in a row at home to trim the gap to the top six that have been out in front for the majority of the season.

And Koeman is confident his side can spoil the party – as long as they claim maximum points from their clash with the Tigers.

“It’s important because points give confidence and the teams above us will be afraid because the gap is not the gap that is was three weeks ago,” he said.

“It would be perfect in the last game before the international break to extend our run and keep the momentum going.

 (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

“We know we are strong at home, at home the team is really playing at a good level defensively and, attacking-wise, we’re scoring a lot of goals. We want to keep that momentum going this Saturday.

“I said before the West Brom home game, if we get six points out of the next two home matches then really we can fight against the teams above us in the table.

“The progression is really good compared to last season. At this stage, we have the same points – 47 – as last season with still 10 games to play. We have a lot of clean sheets, more goals, less goals conceded – it’s really the progress that we wanted when we started this season.”