Everton manager David Moyes believes his players are having a crisis of confidence which has contributed to their recent poor form.
Injuries have ravaged the squad and a run of one win in 10 matches has left the Toffees dangerously close to the relegation zone.
"Confidence is difficult to put into words. You can't put confidence onto the training ground, you can't go out and say 'Come on, we're going to work on confidence today'," Moyes said.
"You can encourage your players, praise them and make them feel better about themselves but ultimately that comes from inside the player.
"It comes from good team performances, which help the players, and good results help confidence, so it is only something generated by wins and a winning mentality.
"If you don't have that it can drain your confidence also."
Everton's current league position is unfamiliar territory as they have finished fifth and qualified for Europe the last two seasons.
However, Moyes insists they have not changed what has been a successful formula and his side just need a lucky break to get things rolling again.
"You keep doing what you think is right. Are we doing anything different from what helped us finish fifth last year and the year before? No, of course we're not," he said.
"We are doing the same things, running the same themes and we are trying to get the players to do the same jobs they have done. We will continue to try to work at doing the right things and if you do the right things in football you tend to get rewarded. Hopefully we will do soon."
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