Despite the Carling Cup semi-final exit, Phil Neville believes the Blues are on the verge of something special.
Joe Cole’s exquisite strike on 69 minutes ended the Toffees’ hopes of a Wembley date next month with Spurs.
Roared on by the magnificent support inside Goodison, David Moyes’ men could not find a way past the impressive Petr Cech but the Blues skipper was proud of his players and the fans.
He told evertonTV: "It was always going to be a tough game but as captain I was proud of the players.
“I was proud of the fans - they got behind us. It was just not to be - even though we have been knocked out of a major semi-final this has got to be the start at Everton Football Club and that is the message I have said to the players.
“It is the start of something special and if you asked us what cup final we wanted to get to, we would have said the Uefa Cup although that does not mean anything today when we are all hurting.”
The England international is urging his teammates to bounce back accordingly in the Premier League and the Uefa Cup.
Neville continued: “We are still in the Uefa Cup and doing well in the league, so let's make this the beginning and a great end to the season.
“And let’s not get too despondent, it is how you bounce back from something like this.
“The disappointing thing for me was for a 20 minute period in the second half when we were on top we did not score and against the top teams you have got to score. And they scored when we were on top - as soon as they scored it was a mountain to climb."
