Jordan Pickford insists the Everton players are right behind Marco Silva after the home defeat by Norwich led to increased speculation over the manager’s future.

The club issued a statement confirming confidence in the manager on Friday, though that was considered a little late in the day after the angry scenes at Goodison last Saturday, and pressure is likely to intensify on Silva should Everton slip any nearer to the bottom three in the coming week. Despite the goalkeeper’s positivity that cannot be ruled out since, beginning on Sunday afternoon at the King Power Stadium, Everton face three top-four sides in the space of seven days in Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea.

“The only way forward is by sticking together,” Pickford says. “We have good strength in depth and a lot of talent at this club and there’s plenty of fighting spirit in the dressing room.

“The manager has been great with us and we are behind him 100%.

“A few bad performances shouldn’t put a manager under pressure but that’s the industry we are in. I don’t want to see the manager sacked. I was here when Ronald Koeman lost his job and it was horrible, not nice to see at all.

“We players have to take our own share of the responsibility and try to put in a good performance. We just have to keep going and hope the negative results will bring the best out of us. We might be in a sticky patch but the squad is still together.”

Everton have now been beaten by all three of the promoted sides, so Pickford doubts that complacency was a factor in the most recent defeat. “We didn’t underestimate Norwich, we didn’t treat them lightly, but I think the fans expected us to win that one and that’s why they reacted in the way they did,” he says.

“Struggling teams always seem to give 100%, so we needed to score first against Norwich and we didn’t. That allowed them to sit back and dictate the way the game was played.

“Credit to Norwich, they played better football than us but I was still incredibly disappointed at the end. Normally I shake hands with opponents if we have lost and say ‘Well done’ but last week I was straight down the tunnel. I wasn’t fuming, just deflated and disappointed because we need to start picking up results.

“I don’t enjoy seeing anyone being slated, whether it is a player or a manager. We know what the fans want to see at Goodison. We need to be showing more passion and belief.”

Some Evertonians have been complaining that the manager himself does not seem to show much emotional involvement, though Pickford says it is a different story in training. “We all enjoy working for this guy. He’s passionate, emotional and he wants to win every game,” he says.

“Every manager is different. They all have their own drills and thoughts on how the game should be played but Marco’s approach is very detailed. We cover everything going into a game, how to play, how to defend, if we are going to press, if we are not going to press. Anyone in those training sessions with us would be able to see that every corner is covered and that we never go into a game without knowing what we are supposed to do.”

Everton will need to be on top of their gameplan at Leicester who, in climbing as high as second in the table, have proved one of the most capable and consistent sides this season. Pickford is not ashamed to admit he has watched their rise with a touch of envy, since he had rather hoped Everton might be able to do something similar.

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“Leicester are flying at the moment, with the manager and the players they’ve got,” he says. “I know a lot of them and what they can do but we beat them at home last season and I think they have added only Ayoze Pérez since.

“We know we have a tough week ahead but in this league you can’t afford to be frightened of the top teams. We are not where we want to be in the table but, looking on the positive side, we are only four points off sixth place. A couple of wins would see us climb right back up and we need to get them as soon as possible.

“We know it won’t be easy at Leicester, or against Liverpool and Chelsea, but the opportunity is there if we can put in a performance.”