Sam Allardyce gives his Everton players a simple message after Watford defeat: ‘Give me more’

Everton have struggled for consistency and lie ninth in the standings with 34 points following a 1-0 defeat by Watford on Saturday

Sam Allardyce wants more from his players (Getty)

Everton manager Sam Allardyce believes his expensively-assembled squad should be delivering much more on the pitch.

Everton recruited heavily for this season, spending over £140m last summer and about £47m for forwards Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott in January.

They have struggled for consistency, however, and lie ninth in the standings with 34 points following a 1-0 defeat by Watford on Saturday.

Asked if he expected more from his players, Allardyce said: “Yes, no doubt about that... the players need to be dealing with it more for the money we've paid for them.

“But you see Everton is in an inflated price bracket because everyone knew it had got money to spend so every player they went for ended up at a certain price for Everton.

“If it was Manchester United it would be even more, but if it's less than Everton it's less. We are in that bracket now so we either say we pay that price and bring the player in or we don't. And that's what you live with today.”

Everton have two wins in their last 10 games and have lost five in that period. They travel to Burnley on Saturday.