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Rafael Benitez wants more from Everton despite fine start to season

:Headline: Rafael Benitez wants more from Everton despite fine start to season:
The Toffees have 10 points from their first four matches.
Sports Mole

Rafael Benitez is pleased with Everton's "near-perfect" start to the season but insists there remains plenty of room for improvement.

The unbeaten Toffees are fourth in the Premier League table after four matches – level on points with leaders Manchester United.

A draw at Leeds are the only points dropped by Benitez's team and the Everton boss is hoping his side can maintain their momentum when they travel to Aston Villa on Saturday.

"I wouldn't say it is perfect as we drew a game, near perfect maybe, but it is very pleasing as it is not easy when there is a change of manager to expect the team to do well," said Benitez, who took charge at Goodison Park in the summer.

"I am really pleased with everything and I hope it continues in this way. It is not easy but we will try to do it.

"There can be improvement. I don't like to concede first – to be honest I don't like to concede anyway. I also think we have had chances to score more goals and we can still improve the transition and attacking play.

"But this is the beginning and I am pleased because we are moving forward in the right direction."

Benitez believes his team are building a good rapport with the supporters – illustrated by Everton's two home matches this season.

Against both Southampton and Burnley, the Toffees have battled back from behind to win – something they managed only once in the Premier League last season during the entire campaign.

"This is credit to the players, and to be fair the fans. The connection between the players and fans is good," said the Spaniard.

"In those games the fans were expecting a reaction and they were patient and knew the team was trying to do something, and the team reacted to that – they reacted to the belief of the fans.

"Due to the belief in the players we were able to do it twice. The connection with the fans is important because we want to be a very strong team at home.

"It is all pleasing. We try to do our best, me and the staff, to make people happy and the way to do that is winning games."

Ahead of the trip to Villa Park, Benitez said that James Rodriguez is training with his team-mates but it is difficult to assess whether the Colombian playmaker is ready to return to first-team duties.

The 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner was brought to Goodison Park from Real Madrid last season by previous boss Carlo Ancelotti but is yet to feature under Benitez, having been heavily linked with a move away from the club during the transfer window.

"He's training. These kind of weeks when you play a game and you have a day off in between, it's not easy to see much from the first training session and we will see tomorrow in another training session. He is training normally with the team," said Benitez.

Benitez reiterated that there has been no change in Dominic Calvert-Lewin's condition.

The striker now has a quadriceps injury to add to the broken toe he was nursing and Benitez said: "It's what I said after the game on Monday night. We have to wait some weeks, we don't know exactly how many but he will not be available for two or three weeks."

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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
2Arsenal32225575264971
3Liverpool32218372314171
4Aston Villa33196868491963
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham33139115258-648
9Chelsea31138106152947
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves32127134651-543
12Fulham33126154951-242
13Bournemouth32119124757-1042
14Crystal Palace3289153754-1733
15Brentford3388174758-1132
16Everton3298153248-1627
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3379174258-1626
18Luton TownLuton3367204670-2425
19Burnley3348213368-3520
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3237223084-5416
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