Everton boss Sam Allardyce has revealed that he is looking forward to having a pre-season with the Toffees.
Allardyce replaced Ronald Koeman as head coach of Everton in the latter stages of 2017, and the former England manager has led the Merseyside club into eighth spot in the Premier League table.
The 63-year-old's future at Goodison Park is still far from secure, but he has no fears that he could lose his job at the end of this season.
"I'm here because things were not going well and I don't think anyone expected that. You use your experience to pull the players through that and build the confidence," Allardyce told reporters.
"I would like a pre-season very much with these players but there's the difficulty of the World Cup. The pre-season plans are all in place. What happens with recruitment with players in and out is pure speculation at the moment."
Everton are in Premier League action at home to Southampton in Saturday's late kickoff.