Everton will be back, says Cahill

Tim Cahill calls for fresh investment to help carry Everton into the top four of the Premier League.

Powered by automated translation

Tim Cahill has called for fresh investment to help carry Everton into the top four of the Premier League. The attacking midfielder has been the heartbeat of Everton's impressive season but even he could not stop Chelsea lifting the FA Cup at Wembley on Saturday after a 2-1 win. Cahill will have an ongoing hip problem assessed over the next few days to decide whether he can join up with Australia's World Cup squad, but it was matters of a domestic nature that weighed most heavily on his mind after the loss.

Cahill said: "Hopefully there will be the investment needed to improve the squad. Now we have a good platform for next season. We have a lot of great youngsters to come in, some were on the bench at Wembley - Jose Baxter, Jack Rodwell, James Vaughan. "We have a lot of fresh talent, and I just pray to God that all the lads stick together and stay here, and next season we can all come back and give it another good go.

"I'm very proud of the lads, proud of the club and everyone involved here. The fans have been amazing and considering the injury problems we have had with a very small squad, what we have achieved is tremendous." Saturday marked Cahill's second FA Cup final defeat having reached the showpiece event in 2004 with Millwall, whose League One play-off failure earlier this month was viewed with dismay by the Australian.

He said: "The last time I played in a cup final it was with Millwall and we lost that one to Manchester United. "Millwall is a club also very close to my heart and I was gutted that they didn't get promotion. I was dejected by that, and now I feel the same for Everton, obviously. You walk off the Wembley pitch feeling you were so close yet so far away. "But we beat some really good Premier League sides to get to Wembley, and we finished fifth in the table. Don't forget that makes us the fifth-best team in the country."

* PA Sport