“We had to find two different performances today.

“First half we were strong and played since nice football, scored a good goal from a set piece and gone into half-time in a comfortable place.

“Second half the game changed, they went direct and they were trying to get it wide and bombard us with crosses. But credit to the players we really stood up to that, we were strong and deserved our win.

“Credit to the players. It was a different style of game for us, especially in the second half. It was a case of us having to roll our sleeves up, stand up and be counted and really put our bodies on the line.

“We had to quieten this crowd, we knew they would be behind Duncan and to be fair to Duncan he has got everything out of his players.

“It’s difficult to rehearse what came our way in the second half. It was direct, it was coming regularly so we had to fight and compete and win second balls. And every single person stood up to that.

“In football there’s different ways to win. but if you’re not prepared to compete, especially away at Goodison, you’ll be found out.

“We played big today and I’m really proud of the players.

“It’s a big win for us.

“This performance was about grit, about steel. I asked the players to really commit because this game was going to ask us something quite alien which is defend long balls constantly and that’s what we did.

“I think we got the short straw today because we are the first team to come on the back of a manager getting sacked.

“We knew what Duncan was going to do by throwing a load of petrol on the fire. We had to defend a lot of tough challenges but to a man they put their bodies on the line.

“This is a tough place to win, no matter what the circumstances, so we are proud of that.”

“He’s [Emiliano Buendía] a little warrior. He’s going up for headers with players that are a foot taller than him. But that’s what I love about him, as he’s all in.

“He will get the headlines but I think that was our strongest performance when you think about what you have to do to get a win here.”

“He’s [Philippe Coutinho] going to get better and stronger. It will still take him 2-3 games to get up to speed in the Premier League. It’s a process and he worked ever so hard for the team today.”

”We need to use this time [the 18 day international break] as a mini pre-season.

“We need to reset our identity and our style of play in and out of possession.

“This is gold dust as we can unlimited time on the training pitch.

Steven Gerrard.

---

”This [Everton] is a very proud club and they have obviously been going through a difficult patch, we knew the change of manager would give them a bit of inspiration and the only way they could hurt us really is if we let them play to the crowd’s hand.

“The first half was pleasing, managing to diffuse that. It wasn’t the greatest football game but was a pleasure to be here and win. They had to come out and try and win the game, we had to be aware the game was going to change, stand up to the challenge, show a different side to ourselves.

“We have played some excellent football and taken on board what the manager wants, but we have been a little bit soft and the only thing you can do is roll your sleeves up.

“They did [Matty Cash and Lucas Digne get his by a bottle thrown from the Goodison Park crowd] and it was disgusting really.

“it is about all they have got… they tried to make it ugly, tried to make it an intimidating atmosphere and we came and got the three points.

“That will hopefully be dealt with but all you can do is get up and carry on.

“I am really excited, I love being a part of this club, love being captain, love everything this club stands for both on and off the pitch.

“I think we have made some brilliant signings, a fantastic squad. The club is going in the right direction, we have stability, owners that want to take the club to the next level and players that want to push each other. It is a pleasure to be a part of.”

Tyrone Mings.

---

“It was a tough game, they threw everything forward in the last 15/20 minutes and we said we had to deal with the horrible part.

“We picked up the three points. Massive.

“Crazy, it hit me straight on the head [the bottle thrown from the Goodison Park crowd], it’s not nice but three points, we’ll take that.”

Matty Cash.

---

“Before the game they changed manager, so difficult, tough.

“In the first half we tried to do our game and played a little better in the first half.

“We worked a bit in the training ground with our set piece coach [for the move that led to the goal].”

Emiliano Buendía