Everton boss Sam Allardyce said there is nothing more he can do to win over the club’s fans after his side’s 2-0 victory at Huddersfield.
Allardyce was not the most popular appointment at Goodison Park when he replaced Ronald Koeman in November and has come under increasing pressure from fans.
Everton supporters unfurled a banner saying: “Our survey says get out of our club” before kickoff at the John Smith’s Stadium and went on to hurl abuse at the former England manager.
“I can’t honestly produce anymore than I’m doing,” said Allardyce, who has lifted the Toffees from 18th to eighth place in the Premier League.
“I’m sorry if some fans don’t like it, but we’re trying as hard as we possibly can, both myself, the staff and the players.
“What can I say when you’ve got 14 points out of seven games when we were in a position of difficulty when I arrived.
“I can only say it’s just one of those things and if we keep winning hopefully they might change it to love.”
Turkey forward Cenk Tosun clinically fired Allardyce’s side into a first-half lead against the run of play before Idrissa Gueye slammed home their second to reflect an improved second-half performance.
“Excellent performance over the 90 minutes,” Allardyce added. “The players’ qualities in the end have shone through and our performance as the game went on got stronger and stronger.
“Our ability to cope with Huddersfield, at what they had to throw at us in terms of attacking was nullified by the quality of our defending.
“The way we took the two goals and the quality of our finishes were excellent and we really could have had more in the second half.”
Huddersfield, roared on by another full house, battled gamely throughout and had spells of dominance, particularly towards the end of the first period.
But the Terriers paid again for their lack of bite in the penalty area and a seventh home defeat of the season, coupled with wins for relegation rivals Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Brom, has plunged them back into the mire.
Boss David Wagner admitted it had been a missed opportunity for his side, who are now two points above the drop zone with three games remaining against champions Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.
“When we all meet up again next week I will lift everybody and makes us ready,” said Wagner, who feels the 35 points his side have will not be enough.
“We wanted to do it [guarantee safety] today. We haven’t done it. But we have shown and we have worked for two-and-a-half years on doing the impossible.
“Now we have a week in front of us, a difficult task, but we know it is possible, especially for a team like us, to steal some points and this is exactly our aim.”
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