David Moyes has said that talking about Everton in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup "sounds good" after his side comfortably beat Newcastle United on Thursday.
The Toffees are one of eight teams remaining in the competition and know that they now only need to beat League Two's Fleetwood Town to reach the semifinals for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
With the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Aston Villa all having already exited the competition, doing so could give them a realistic chance of claiming Everton's first trophy since the FA Cup in 1995.
"I think the minute you use the word quarterfinals then you start to think, 'this sounds good,'" Moyes said after the game.
"I think we're pleased that we've been able to get to this stage of the competition. If we can keep it going great, obviously."
Goals from James Garner, Hayden Hackney and Thierno Barry were enough for the win on Thursday, but Everton were without Jack Grealish after the winger was made unavailable due to what the club called "a breach of club discipline."
Moyes did not want to be drawn on the matter -- other than saying it was a club decision and one he supports -- but he did pay tribute to the character of his players on a night when Grealish's absence could have been a distraction.
"I think the one thing about Everton and what they've got is they've got really good values behind it," he said.
"All the players stand up to the values, accept the values that we put out there, what we want from them on the pitch and off the pitch.
"And from that point of view I think the players have done a brilliant job tonight, they really did."
Newcastle boss Matthias Jaissle made clear his frustration as any good feeling left from Sunday's 2-0 win at Crystal Palace evaporated.
"We of course are disappointed with the result, it's also a bit shocking at the moment because overall the game was not that bad," he said.
"But it's a bit the story of the season so far, that in situations where it really counts we lack the clinical approach to solve the situations."
Everton took the lead when Amar Dedic was harried into a poor clearance by Tyrique George, losing the ball before Garner swept home, while the second goal came moments after Newcastle's penalty appeals were rejected by Farai Hallam after Harvey Barnes went down in the box.
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"Just thinking about the first one again, it's no risk zone, we [should] clear the ball and nothing happens, and a couple of seconds later we concede a goal out of nothing," Jaissle added.
"The second one is also frustrating in my point of view, we deserved to have a penalty, on the other hand then we miss in a transition to defend our own box which again is difficult to accept. We have clear rules then how to behave ...We need to learn quickly...
"For me it's about being mature in the situations, more clinical to solve the situations and not allowing almost a gift for the opposition to score.
"It feels like the opposition is not giving us these gifts at the moment so we need to avoid that."
Information from PA contributed to this report.