Jordan Pickford spoke after Everton’s 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Saturday

Jordan Pickford has called on Everton to improve away from home and not just rely on big performances at Goodison Park to climb up the table.

Everton fell to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Southampton on Saturday, despite having recorded a rousing 3-0 home win over Leeds last weekend.

Since the arrival of Frank Lampard as manager, high-scoring victories over Brentford and Leeds have been negated by disappointing away losses at Newcastle and Southampton.

The defeat leaves Everton four points above the relegation zone and the England goalkeeper believes the Blues need to show a different type of character, in order to pick up points on the road.

“I think we started off really well. The first 10 minutes we had a couple of chances, but we just couldn’t continue that and we let Southampton grow into the game,” Pickford told Evertonfc.com.

“We know, at their place, what a good team they are. It was disappointing because we’ve had a couple of good results at Goodison since the new manager has come in.

“We just need to gel away from home – we can’t just rely on home games.

“It’s about coming away, standing up and getting results. We wanted to come away with something today, but Southampton were the better side.”

The Everton keeper acknowledged that the squad would need to work hard on the training pitch to correct their mistakes, with the team facing an even tougher test against Manchester City next week.

Pickford was one of few players to emerge from St. Mary’s with credit for his performance, having made nine saves to keep the scoreline at 2-0.

Though he admitted to feeling “in the moment” against Southampton, the 27-year-old was still left feeling deflated about the result but insisted that Frank Lampard’s side will improve

“All I want to do is to try my best to keep the ball out of the net – I conceded two today, so I’m not happy,” he said.

“We’ve got City next week – they’re the best team in the league but it’s about us being a unit and having that togetherness home and away to pick those results up.”

“We know our capabilities and we know the ability in the squad – it’s about picking those results up home and away and having that togetherness. I think we’ve got that.”