Lukaku: 'I must be a serial killer in attack'

Romelu Lukaku had gone 1,139 minutes without a competitive goal for Everton before he nodded in Idrissa Gueye's cross in the second half at the Stadium of Light on Monday.

Lukaku, who scored twice in Belgium's World Cup qualifying win over Cyprus last week, insists he was always confident he would recapture his scoring touch.

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku says he must adopt a "serial killer" instinct in the final third to build on his hat-trick against Sunderland.

The Belgium international had gone 1,139 minutes without a competitive goal for the club before he nodded in Idrissa Gueye's cross in the second half at the Stadium of Light on Monday.

Lukaku completed his treble in just 11 minutes, heading in Yannick Bolasie's delivery before slotting past Jordan Pickford on the break as Ronald Koeman's side sealed a resounding 3-0 win to move third in the Premier League.

The 23-year-old felt his side endured a poor first-half display but was ultimately frustrated not to have scored more goals, having hit the crossbar with a fierce shot from close range after earlier seeing a header tipped over by Pickford.

"I think we could have done better, especially in the first half. It wasn't as good as we wanted," he told Sky Sports.

"They defended well but we didn't get the ball up front or create chances, aside from one or two that I missed. It wasn't good enough.

"The second half was much better and it was a well deserved win.

"I think I could have had five at the end, maybe, so I have to be more of a serial killer. But we won today and the defence did a brilliant job. We have to keep going as a team."

Lukaku, who scored twice in Belgium's World Cup qualifying win over Cyprus last week, insists he was always confident he would recapture his scoring touch once his fitness levels improved following a post-EURO 2016 break.

"It was coming. When I went to Belgium, I said it was about my fitness levels, which weren't as good as I wanted them to be. You have to be patient in the Premier League," he said.

"I'm happy for the team. We're in a good position in the league and we have to keep going."

Defender Leighton Baines says the squad always had faith in Lukaku's ability and praised the "fantastic" all-round spirit within the dressing room.

"We know he's got goals in him, his record is phenomenal. We all knew the goals were going to come," he said.

"We've started from scratch, we've got to be crystal clear on the fundamentals again and be crystal clear on what we want to achieve. We started at the bottom and worked really hard, got fit, and the spirit is fantastic. We need to keep this run going.

"We haven't set any definite objectives. Our goal is to repeat what we did in the first chunk [of the season], and if we do that, we'll be in a good position."