Jagielka urges Everton defence to tighten up

The England defender believes the Toffees' open style of play has enabled them to score more goals, although he remains wary about keeping them out at the other end

Phil Jagielka has hailed Everton's expansive style of football this season, but has urged his defensive team-mates to improve in order to keep goals out.

David Moyes' side fought back from 2-0 down in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon, the fourth successive game in which they have come from behind.

It was the first time, however, Everton have overcome a two-goal deficit to salvage a result against their neighbours and the England centre-half is keen to strike the right balance between a watertight defence and free-flowing forward thinking.

"We're scoring a lot more goals than we did last season, but from a defensive point of view, we've conceded more as well," Jagielka told the club's official website.

"We need to get the balance right.

"I'm sure the manager's not pleased with conceding, but it's always nice to look at the game if you do go behind - even two goals behind - you still fancy us getting a couple ourselves.

"We did knock on the door quite a few times to get a goal up [against Liverpool], but it didn't happen. On the whole, 2-2 was probably a fair result."

The Toffees have lost just once all season long, and Jagielka believes a good understanding within the team has been crucial to their success.

"It's all about playing to your strengths," he added.

"We give Steven Pienaar a lot of the ball to feet because he's a good technician.

"It's all about playing to each individual player, trying to find their strengths and a way for the team to play to them."