Louis Saha urges Everton fans to trust club

Striker Louis Saha has urged Everton's fans to trust the club after another quiet summer in the transfer market.

Only young defender Eric Dier, a loan signing from Sporting Lisbon, has arrived at Goodison Park, with James Vaughan and Iain Turner leaving the club.

A section of fans have continued to voice their discontent with a perceived lack of investment in the playing squad, but Frenchman Saha has faith in the people running the club, and feels supporters should do too.

He said: "It's not the right way to start a season but I'm here to kick the ball and make sure we're winning games. I understand their concern but they have to be confident in the team and the squad.

"They should know the chairman and the board and the manager are trying hard. They're desperate to do something but if they're not doing something it's because they've got big reasons for that. You have to trust them. We trust them as players."

Defender Sylvain Distin believes the crucial thing is that Everton have so far hung on to star names like Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines, Mikel Arteta and Tim Cahill.

He said: "I think we've got enough quality and the most important thing is to keep our best players, which so far is the case. That's a positive and a strong sign.

"Any team and any player would like to improve their squad, so everybody wants to see new players coming.

"But the fact we don't have too many players every season is a positive as well because it means you play with the same guys so you get to know each other a bit more and create a good team spirit."

Everton are still waiting to hear whether Saturday's Barclays Premier League opener at Tottenham will go ahead after the recent riots in London, but if it does the Toffees will be without two key players in Seamus Coleman and Arteta.

The Spaniard is still struggling with the foot injury that has kept him out for much of pre-season, but more worrying for Everton is the news about Coleman's right ankle problem.

A scan on the joint the Republic of Ireland international damaged in the friendly defeat by Villarreal on Friday showed he has torn a ligament.

No possible return date has yet been set for the 22-year-old, who would have missed the first two games of the season anyway through suspension but now looks set to be sidelined for a much longer period.

Head physio Danny Donachie told evertonfc.com: "Seamus has torn the lateral ligament in his right ankle. He will be visiting a specialist in London later this week for further assessment."