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Everton star Leighton Baines hoping England friendlies will take mind off Liverpool derby
EVERTON defender Leighton Baines has admitted that England's upcoming friendlies against Chile and Germany will take the attention away from the Merseyside derby.
The Toffees are sixth and just three points behind Liverpool, with the derby coming immediately after the international break.
With derby fever building, Baines has professed it is nice to escape it all while on international duty.
"When a derby is coming up everyone gets excited and you just want to get out there and do it," Baines told the club's in-house TV channel.
"But we get to switch off from it to some extent because a lot of us go away for quite important games for our countries and hopefully we'll come back together and get a good result."
Baines also believes Everton's solid defensive record stands them in good stead going into the Merseyside derby.
He added: "The positive is back-to-back clean sheets.
"It makes it six in 11 games, which is a decent ratio."