With Everton's win over Fulham lifting the Blues into the top eight, expectations were again raised of a possible late charge towards the Europa League spots.

Brian, in his latest blog over at the Offside has discussed our chances of a top six spot, looking at our remaining fixtures as well as David Moyes' ever increasing injury list. The intro to the piece is below, but to read the rest head over to our partner's site, it is well worth it.

With 8 games remaining in a season that would be classified as disappointing by most Everton fans, the one question that remains is if Everton can qualify once more for Europe. Despite Everton’s recent rise up the table, any chance of making it to Europe has been complicated first by Birmingham’s victory in the Carling Cup, and also by the semifinal draw in the FA Cup that ensures the winner of the Stoke-Bolton match a place in Europe. This means that Everton has to finish 5th this season, displacing either Liverpool, Chelsea, or Tottenham, all of whom are hoping ideally for a Champions League berth, but one will have to settle for Europa League qualification, and the other a 6th place finish. Sure it is a tall task, almost certain to fail, but what else is the internet good for besides some mindless speculation.

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