In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast ahead of the London Football Awards, Tony Cottee has outlined that he sees Everton's failure to replace Romelu Lukaku's goals and their frailty from set-pieces as their big problems this season.

This conclusion comes with the Toffees still hovering just above the relegation zone, having lost 3-2 against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

Cottee has named the two problems he feels have put Marco Silva's side in their current predicament: "Since Lukaku left, they haven't replaced the goals. Obviously they've been conceding a lot of goals from set-pieces as well. They're the two reasons why Everton have struggled this season."

Everton have five separate scorers in the league this season, but are struggling for someone who can get the goals to drag the team forward - Dominic Calvert-Lewin is their top scorer with three goals, as per WhoScored.

Former Everton striker Cottee's comment about set-pieces is also backed up by the statistics, as Everton have conceded six from this type of situation, which is the most of any team in the Premier League this term.

However, he has indicated that the team can take inspiration from their victory against another of his former clubs: "If they play like they did against West Ham and show the same application and determination, then they'll be fine and they'll move up the league and they'll get back in the top 10, which is obviously the minimum requirement for Everton."

With Everton's aspirations in mind, they will need to address these two problem areas if they are to get where they want to be in the table.

Tony Cottee was speaking as a judge on The London Football Awards, due to take place on 5th March 2020 at Camden’s Roundhouse. Tickets are available from https://

londonfootballawards.org.