Neville is currently sidelined with knee ligament damage

Everton captain Phil Neville has hit out at the scheduling of his side's Carling Cup tie at Tottenham.

Tuesday's White Hart Lane clash follows hot on the heels of Thursday's Europa League trip to Benfica and Sunday's Premier League visit to Bolton.

"The fact that we're playing on Tuesday is nothing short of a disgrace," Neville told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"Somebody, somewhere is probably sat in their office not bothered about the fact we want to win the Carling Cup."

Nevertheless, Neville is resigned to the fact that the Toffees will have to play Tottenham on Tuesday and is hoping their injury-hit squad can do themselves justice.

"That (the timing of the game) is something we can't control," said Neville.

"We've handled situations like this in the past. When the chips are down and our backs are to the wall and people are writing us off, that's when this club gels together."

Everton were humbled 5-0 at Benfica and Neville says the side must now bounce back against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on Sunday.

"We've got a massive game with Bolton and we need to carry on our Premiership form because we've not been beaten for a while and we need to continue that on Sunday," he added.

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