Sylvain Distin is backing new signing Steven Naismith to play a part in firing Everton to the next level in the Premier League this season.
Everton defender hoping to push for the Champions League
Sylvain Distin is backing new signing Steven Naismith to play a part in firing Everton to the next level in the Premier League this season.
The 25-year-old Scotland international recently left Rangers and followed former team-mate Nikica Jelavic to Goodison Park on a four-year-deal.
A lack of goals was widely blamed for Everton's slow start to last season but the Toffees finished the campaign strongly thanks mainly to the addition of Jelavic and on-loan midfielder Steven Pienaar.
And Distin believes the addition of Naismith, who featured as a substitute in Saturday's friendly draw with Motherwell, will help them start where they left off in May.
Targets
"We had a great defensive record and were probably the second or third best defence in the league," said Distin. "We scored goals at the end of the season when we got our strikers and we finished well.
"We have not set any targets as yet. If you ask me what I would like to happen then I would like to win the league and be playing Champions League football.
"Will that happen? I don't know. But what I do know is that we will be trying our hardest to get off to a good start and finish as high up the league as possible at the end of the season."
Naismith is still battling back to full fitness following cruciate ligament surgery in October, but Distin has been impressed by the early glimpses of his new team-mate.
"We have done a few training sessions together and he has shown us he has got some really good qualities as a player," added Distin.
"He will be a good addition to the squad. We have only got a small squad so any player of his quality will add a lot to the squad and can only be good."
