Lescott Confident Toffees will get to FA Cup Final

Everton vs Middlesbrough

If ever there was a measure of Everton's compulsion to win a trophy, then it came midway through their victory over West Brom last weekend.

Standing stripped on the touchline, Joleon Lescott was waiting to enter the fray as a substitute, his manager urgently delivering revised set-piece instructions beside him.

But as the fourth official was preparing to haul the number board above his head, Everton scored. Immediately, David Moyes issued one more instruction:" Sit down, Joe." On a personal level, it was a let down for the big defender. His unbroken record of 129 consecutive appearances for the club was over, meaning he fell just six appearances short of breaking the all-time Goodison record, which has stood for more than 100 years.

But personal sentiment counts for nothing at Everton, not for manager or players. They have a shared ethos that demands no one person is greater than the team unit.

They possess that elusive sporting quality - genuine team spirit.

Lescott was on the bench because he was one booking away from missing tomorrow's FA Cup quarter-final with Middlesbrough, and the game is considered so important he was not going to be risked... even with a record at stake.

"I was aware I hadn't missed a game, and I was proud of that, but the manager explained the situation about the booking, and I respect that decision more than any record, '' explained Lescott.

" I hadn't realised just how close I was to the all-time club record, but that is how it goes. When I was getting ready to go on, we scored and the manager turned round and said: 'There's no point in risking it now. '" That's how important the Cup game is to us. We had a lead over West Brom that we thought we could protect, and there is a massive desire here to win a trophy.

" It is something the group here wants desperately, and the team comes before my own stats. '' Everton have overachieved under the reign of Moyes, have performed well beyond the reach of their wisely-administered budget. They have become European regulars and even broke the stranglehold of the Big Four in the Champions League.

But they have not won a trophy and that is why so much emphasis is placed on tomorrow's tie.

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" We feel here that we have achieved much in the Premier League, we are consistent and we have got in amongst the European places for the last few years without being able to go out and spend hundreds of millions," said Lescott.

" We're proud of that, but there is definitely a need - and a desire - to win a trophy. We want that feeling, we want that recognition, we want to give our fans something special.

" You could say it is the next step for us to take, because this team is developing, and putting a trophy in the Goodison cabinet would write a little bit of history.

" That's what it is all about in the end, having something to show for all your work. But let's not kid anyone, winning the FA Cup this season is not exactly going to be easy.

" We've already had to beat two of the top four just to get to the quarter-final, and now we are playing another Premier club. If we beat them, then there is every chance we'll be joined in the semi- finals by Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. So a bit of work still to be done then." And if Everton need to win a trophy, then United, Chelsea and Liverpool need it even more, because of the mind-blowing money they invest.

But under Moyes, the Merseyside club have got used to defying the odds, and if they need to beat four of the top five in the Premier League to win the FA Cup, then that is what they will try to do.

Their last trophy was in 1995, and as Lescott looks back on his memories of the FA Cup, he realises that the historic win in the final over Manchester United just happens to be one of those landmark moments in his own life.

" I was a Villa fan as a kid, so I didn't have many cup memories from them, but like every football- daft lad, I used to sit in front of every Cup final when I was young, taking in the magic of those games on the telly," he recalled.

" And you know what, I think that Paul Rideout's goal to beat United for Everton is probably the first final I really remember watching - isn't that weird?" It's history, isn't it? You never forget those moments. You go down in the legend of the competition, and that is why we want to win a trophy. We want to get mentioned in the same breath as all those Everton legends.

" That would put what we have achieved into context." Given the route Everton will have to take to the final, the defender is not wrong. It would rank among the greatest achievements in the club's illustrious history.

Joleon Lescott is backing players from the Liverpool area to" Show Your Five" in a nationwide tournament. Barclays Premier League stars will drop in to see the action from over 200 tournaments at Powerleagues across the country as each of the teams vie to be crowned their city's top side. Winners from each city will then go head-tohead at the national final for the title of Nike5 champions.

( David Maddock / Mirror )