DAVID MOYES has tried hard to protect his Everton players from unnecessary expectations.

DAVID MOYES has tried hard to protect his Everton players from unnecessary expectations.

That is why, whenever he has been asked, the Goodison boss (right) has always tried to sidestep the issue of Everton setting targets for European qualification.

But he had to concede in the wake of the hard fought 1-1 draw at Newcastle yesterday that the excellent form of his squad means challenging for Europe is, at the very least, a possibility.

After all, the point maintained Everton's grip on third place, leaving them three points ahead of Manchester United and five points better off than Middlesbrough.

Moyes (pictured right) said: "Now we have taken 30 points from 15 games, which is an average of two points a match. I don't have to say what that kind of form means.

"But we are not kidding ourselves. We are just a hard working group and just because we have come to Newcastle and got a point doesn't mean we are at the same level of Newcastle yet. But we are making a good go of it.

"I don't want to set myself and the players targets, but the players should be getting praised for what they are doing. Why should we not be a team that can challenge for a place in Europe? We have to think that we can.

"We should try and aim for Europe."

Moyes' confidence follows a run of fine form from a month he earmarked at the start of the season as the toughest of the campaign.

He added: "I thought this was the hardest month we had because we only had one home game in November.

"But we have come through it with seven points from 12 available and having only lost once - 1--0 at Chelsea."

That run of form, with just one away defeat all season, has fuelled the confidence in the Everton dressing room.

"It says a lot that the players thought they were coming here to win. I could sense it in the dressing room and I had sensed it on the training ground all week.

"You could see that from the opening 10 minutes. If anything, we were going for it a bit too much.

"They scored a terrific goal and then we had to baton down the hatches for half an hour. But that is an art in itself, defending well in the face of pressure.

"The players have given everything they possibly can. We were up against a fantastic team in Newcastle, the second top scorers in the Premiership.

"We restricted them to one goal and got a very good result. We rode our luck a little bit, but they rode theirs at times as well.

"We came back after that early Craig Bellamy goal and had some good chances ourselves.

"We have now been to Manchester United and drawn, drawn here and only lost 1-0 at Chelsea. Maybe it wasn't that big a surprise for us to be down 1-0 at half time but to come back and get a draw."

Despite the excellent outcome, Moyes still wasn't fully satisfied, so high are the standards he is now setting at Goodison.

"That wasn't anywhere near as good as we can play but all the qualities and everything we ask of the players when we are not quite at it was there," he continued..

"The players are giving their best in every game and are always trying to do things the right way. If anything, the mood in the dressing room is getting better."

There was one downside from the afternoon. The Blues will be without Tim Cahill for the home game with Bolton this weekend after the Australian international picked up his fifth booking of the season.