David Unsworth is refusing to accept claims Everton are in a relegation battle despite seeing the Toffees hammered at Southampton on Sunday.
Everton have now lost eight of their last 11 games in all competitions and the 4-1 defeat at St Mary's leaves them just two points outside the Premier League bottom three.
Dusan Tadic gave Southampton the lead with a deft finish, with Gylfi Sigurdsson giving the visitors some hope with a stunning equaliser on the stroke of half-time.
That hope was soon extinguished as Charlie Austin headed home twice in six minutes, with Steven Davis adding a fourth late on.