Leon Osman Devastated by Merseyside Derby Thrashing

Leon Osman has admitted that he was devastated as Everton fell victim to a 4-0 defeat by Liverpool and the midfielder insists the Toffees must bounce back.

The Reds were on fire against their local rivals on Tuesday night in a sign that their form is not dipping in the race for a top four finish.

Steven Gerrard opened the scoring for the side while Daniel Sturridge put two on the board and Luis Suarez added a fourth to close down the game for Everton. An injury to Romelu Lukaku further exacerbated Roberto Martinez's pain and Osman admits he has sleepless nights over the horror match.

"I didn't sleep a wink after but we haven't got too much time to dwell on it," he said, according to the Daily Mail. "We've got another big game against Villa on Saturday and we'll be doing all we can to get back on track.

"Three defeats in the Premier League by the start of February isn't bad but derby defeats really hurt.

"(It was) one of the worst results of my career. We've had a great season so far but to lose heavily against Liverpool was a massive blow.

"I got on at half-time with us already 3-0 behind and although we started the second half really well, their fourth goal, against the run of play, effectively finished the game."

Everton are currently sixth in the table and the loss puts Manchester United within two points of the side. They face Aston Villa in their next match at home, and Osman is keen to reflect on what went wrong against Liverpool in order to recover from the heavy defeat.

"Having been defensively solid all season, to lose three quick first-half goals in such a manner left us as shell-shocked as our supporters were," he explained.

"In a strange game, we had more possession than the home team on the night but we were done on the counter attack for three of the four goals."