Everton manager spots chance to overhaul rivals

There was no call from Liverpool for David Moyes in the summer of 2010, when they sought a successor to Rafael Benitez. However, the Everton manager said yesterday that he would "have loved to have inherited" Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.

The decade at Goodison Park which Moyes marks tomorrow, as well as his club's emergence from penury to where they could move a point ahead of Liverpool and into seventh place in the table with a win at Anfield, reveals why Moyes would have been worthy of consideration. Instead, he senses the possibility of a hugely symbolic first win across Stanley Park, at the 11th attempt.

"We've had some moments and I'd like to go there and win more often, that's for sure, but it's always been a tough place to play," Moyes said. "I think we've been in similar situations over the years and never been able to take the leap. We've been quite close to Liverpool numerous times and apart from the one year, we've never really been able to do it. That's because of lots of other things that are quite obvious. We've got this close quite a few times but not been able to do it and we've got another chance to see if we can do it."

Moyes simply replied "No", and grinned, when he was asked if Liverpool had approached him. Of managing Gerrard and Carragher he said: "Who knows? I didn't inherit them and it's hard to answer."

The Scot's side have beaten Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham in winning three league games in four but Moyes said he would know in the next week if they had outperformed his expectations. "Six weeks ago I wouldn't have watched Everton," he said. "We weren't playing well enough, results weren't good. But we've dug in."