Cahill happy to be Everton´s lone ranger

Australian international Tim Cahill believes his new role as a lone striker at English Premier League side Everton is improving him as a player.

Everton, without injured attackers Yakubu, James Vaughan, Victor Anichebe and Louis Saha, have seen Cahill respond to his new position in style by scoring in recent wins over Manchester City and Middlesbrough.

“There is a lot of pressure. If we don't score or don't win, then people are going to start calling on the striker and want someone else to play there,” Cahill told www.evertonfc.com.

“I'm not in a win-win situation. I have to work very hard to keep my place and put pressure on defences, because I feel that I need to work hard for the team.

“All players are playing in different positions because of the lack of numbers but we're all in there for the cause. You see where we're sat in the table and hopefully we can progress even higher.”

Cahill didn't hit the target on Sunday in his team's 3-0 home win over Sunderland as the Merseysiders consolidated their sixth place in the table.

Despite that, he has been keen to stress the importance of his teammates' support and had special words of praise for summer signing Marouane Fellaini.

“It's a lot harder work (as a lone striker),” added Cahill.

“It's obviously a lot of mileage covered, but every player runs in every position.

“I just think that for the manager to have the faith in me to play up there on my own means I'm going to take that opportunity and do it for the team. It's very difficult but I get help from Fellaini and the lads coming forward.

“Felli is a great lad and a great player. He covers a lot of ground and he seems to be attacking a lot and we're playing off each other, but we're trying to get the most out of ourselves for the team and it's starting to work like that and the team is benefiting from it.”