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Romelu Lukaku cannot believe where Everton are in the table.

And the Blues’ record signing insists they must develop a nasty streak if they are to ever qualify for the Champions League.

Back-to-back wins have moved Everton up to eighth in the Premier League standings but they remain 12 points off fourth placed Man City.

Lukaku says they are “lucky” the table is so tight and that qualification for the Europa League remains realistic but the £28m striker is still pinning his hopes on an FA Cup win this season.

The 22-year-old, who has plundered 20 goals in all competitions this term, says Everton must consistently prove they can win the big games - and the “cheeky” ones - if they are to start challenging the sides who regularly find themselves in top four contention.

“Below expectations,” said Lukaku, when asked to assess the season so far.

“You can’t believe we are in this type of situation because some of the teams above us are not better than us and we should’ve done much better than we are now.

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"We have to go 100% for the Cup" - Lukaku

“We are lucky that in the league, this year, the gaps are so small that two more wins and we’re up there again.

“It is a really strange situation but maybe it is in our favour. We will only know at the end of the season but at the moment we can only say that two more wins and we are in a good situation.

“But it means that in the Cup we have to go all out, 100%.

“I am pinning a lot of my hopes on the FA Cup. I want to win something.

“The Man City game (Capital One Cup semi-final) was a game where we missed an opportunity but we have another opportunity, even though we still have a lot of games still to make it through, but in the FA Cup we have to be clinical.”

So how far does he think Everton are from being able to challenge for Champions League qualification?

“The Manchester Uniteds, the Citys, the Chelseas and Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenals, have the x-factor,” Lukaku said.

“Where they will win the big games, that’s the difference.

“This season has been two games good, two games bad for us.

“In my first season here we beat Man United home and away, we won against Arsenal and drew down there, we beat Chelsea at home and we had a draw against Tottenham.

"West Brom can be a cheeky game" - Rom

“But then if you look at those results and the games and the difficult away games like Southampton, and games at home to Crystal Palace in that first year, they are the games we have to win.

“Those cheeky games, like West Brom this weekend, that can be a cheeky game.

“They will come, sit back, sit in and wait. If you don’t find a way to break them down then the manager is going to do something to go a bit more offensive but then that is when they can score a goal.

“That is where those teams have the edge.

“I remember when I was at Chelsea, there were games when we were absolutely horrible but we got the three points and that is what we have to have.

“We have to have that nastiness, we don’t have to be the nice guys and when something happens, everyone has to stand up for their mate and be like warriors. If we get that then we are going to be a top four side.”

Lukaku has never hidden from the fact that he wants Champions League football - an aspiration also held by Blues boss Roberto Martinez - and he believes that Everton’s quartet of stand-out young players will be ready to mount a more sustained challenge next season.

"Stones is just going through a phase"

“Champions League is really important,” said Lukaku, speaking at Longmoor Community Primary School earlier this week in his role as Everton’s Kick It Out Next 20 ambassador.

“At the end of the day you just want to perform.

“Why do you get praise? Because you perform well.

“It is easier to put a 21-year-old out of the team than a 32-year-old so you need to keep working and keep progressing.

“That is my personal challenge, to keep progressing and keep working.

“Ross gets it as well now and Stonesy is going through a period that he has never had in his career.

“He is going through a period now because he knows Funes Mori is knocking on the door and Jags is doing great.

“That is when you know it is a mental aspect now that has to come up.”

He added: “If you look forward and down the line, then Champions League is the objective of the club with us.

“You have Geri, myself, Ross, Stonesy. We are the four but you have to deliver more wins, get that nastiness inside of us but you don’t get that straight away, but with age.

"The Champions League is the objective for ALL of us"

“So if you talk about next season then you can say that those boys are ready.

“Now, to be fair, this is Ross’ best season in the Prem, it is Stonesy’s best season in the Prem so people expect from him, it is Geri’s best season in the Prem and this is my best season in the Prem as well.

“I’ve scored as many goals as last season but we are only halfway.

“But because I’m a striker, nothing has changed, it is always the same drill but it is different for them because they play in a different position.

“I have been in the game for six or seven years now, so I know how it is. This is nothing new, I know the expectations from people but then, for them, how are people going to judge them?

“But that is when they have to realise ‘I have been in this situation before and nothing is going to stop me’ and next year the team is going to much stronger than it has been this season.”