Carlo Ancelotti says his Everton side failed to show ‘fighting spirit’ in their 4-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.
The Toffees European hopes were dealt a blow thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Pedro, Willian and Olivier Giroud.
The defeat leaves Everton in 12th and six points off sixth-placed Wolves.
A win would have moved Everton to within five points of fourth-placed Chelsea, but Ancelotti insists Champions League football was never a realistic target for his team this season.
He told talkSPORT: “Everything was wrong – the strategy of the game, the attitude of the players.
“We did a lot of mistakes. So it’s not difficult to judge this game.
“They tried, but we didn’t show fighting spirit. We lost a lot of duels on the pitch and that was also the reason. Also, we have to consider Chelsea played really well.
“We never thought about the top four, we are thinking that we have to fight for the Europa League [places] until the very end of the season.
“We are not talking about [summer] transfers, we are looking only for the game against Liverpool [next Monday].”
