It may not have felt like it at the time, but Phil Neville believes that Everton’s heartbreaking Uefa Cup elimination at the hands of Fiorentina could prove to be a blessing in disguise as the club step up their pursuit of fourth place in the Barclays Premier League.

After Everton’s heroic exit in the Carling Cup semi-finals when they pushed Chelsea all the way over the two legs, it was a similar story at a raucous Goodison Park on Wednesday.

Trailing Fiorentina 2-0 from the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in Florence, Everton seemed on the cusp of a momentous comeback when they dragged a breathless European encounter into extra time, but after failing to make the most of the plethora of chances they created, it was with almost eerie inevitability that they should come unstuck against the Italians in a penalty shoot-out.

Having watched the team bounce back from the disappointment of losing to Chelsea, however, Neville is adamant that they can overcome their latest setback and the captain believes that a lighter schedule could give them a small but significant advantage during the run-in.

While Everton are free to concentrate on their remaining league matches, Liverpool, their Merseyside rivals and main challengers for fourth place, will play a further five European matches if they reach the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21. “I want more European football because these nights have brought out the best in us, but one thing I will say is that, during this last week, I could see a bit of tiredness creeping in, especially at Sunderland last Sunday,” Neville said.

“So the weeks without Uefa Cup football could mean we get players fit, get them back rested and really attack these last nine league games.”

Everton are expected to be without Tim Cahill, who has foot and hip injuries, for the visit to Fulham on Sunday, by which time they will trail Liverpool by three points if Rafael BenÍtez’s team beat Reading at Anfield the previous day, but Neville is determined to ensure that the team do not allow the season to fall flat.

“We’ve got the quality and now we have to make sure that we get the reward we deserve from a fantastic season,” he said. “Sunday is a massive test now. We had one at Sunderland last week and won 1-0 and Fulham is another. So far we have answered just about every one that’s come our way.”

While character and self-belief have been two of the prevailing qualities of Everton’s season, however, Neville is critical of English football’s mental fragility when it comes to penalties after Tottenham Hotspur were also beaten in a shoot-out in their Uefa Cup tie against PSV Eindhoven.

“It’s not just once or twice it has happened, it happens a lot,” Neville said. “Maybe we just need to be a bit tougher mentally. It comes at the end of 120 minutes and I think we have the mentality along the lines of ‘oh, we couldn’t have done any more’, but then we still have the penalties to take. That’s where we have to toughen up a bit more.”