Everton have got to find a way to do better in the "big moments", according to Sean Dyche, who picked out one player in particular for praise after suffering his first home defeat in charge of the club.
The Blues boss was largely pleased with his side's performance against Aston Villa, believing they battled well and caused problems for their opponents. But he acknowledged the "theme" of Everton's season continued at Goodison Park on Saturday as they were unable to convert the chances they worked so hard to create.
Neal Maupay and Amadou Onana both forced Emiliano Martinez into action and the Blues had the momentum after wrestling control of the game after a challenging opening 15 minutes. The match later changed with a controversial penalty that allowed Villa to take a second-half lead that Everton were powerless to overcome.
VERDICT: Everton haunted by board failures and six unused players just proved it against Aston Villa
ANALYSIS: Sean Dyche may have to play wildcard as board put 'golden thread' in danger
Speaking after the 2-0 defeat, Dyche said there were genuine positives to take from a display that did end with his players taking the applause of the Gwladys Street crowd. Yet his efforts to keep Everton out of the relegation zone were undermined by how limited his forward options are, particularly with key striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin still unavailable.
He said: "A lot of the performance I thought was right for what we want to do here - certainly the physicality, and the shape of the side for large parts of the game was very good. It was a soft start, I thought the first 15 minutes we did not get to grips with it and then we started to build a real performance first half, a very front foot performance, dominated large parts, and asked questions.
"We had Dwight McNeil, who was excellent, he was very productive for us today and he is growing back into a very good player for us. And I thought we brought a real commitment to it, first half particularly, and asked enough questions, and I think the theme so far this season has been finding those big moments and we didn't find a moment in the first half, but a lot of it was good."
Under his command, Dyche has shown the Blues are capable of holding on to results when they take the lead. But asked whether he was confident he could find a way for Everton to be competitive when they concede the first goal, he said: "I think the facts of football are quite obvious, goals change games - not just the scoreline. It is the feel of the moment and I think they got a goal pretty much out of nothing. I thought in the second half we started very well again, we were on the front foot, we were playing forwards and asking questions. I'm more frustrated with their first goal.
"The second goal can sometimes happen, they breakaway and they catch us a little bit sloppy on the defensive side of things. But the first goal is from a set up position, a very simple set up position. We should know better as a group. We didn't react to it and we gave away a penalty and then they get a goal pretty much out of nothing at that stage. We went back on the front foot, I was pleased with the attitude toward getting back into the game, but it is finding the big moments, finding the freedom in the top third, particularly when you get in those big moments, and that is what we have got to continue looking at and will continue working to find."
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