Significance of change not lost on Silva

Everton boss Marco Silva praised his three substitutes after they produced two goals and an assist between them late on in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace yesterday.

The Toffees grabbed the lead in the 87th minute of the Premier League contest at Goodison Park when Dominic CalvertLewin headed in from an Ademola Lookman delivery, five minutes after both players had come off the bench.

Cenk Tosun, who had come on midway through the second half, then added an 89th-minute strike to make sure of the points.

Silva said in his postmatch press conference: “It is football - sometimes you change and everything goes well, like (what) happened this afternoon. Other times it is not the same.

“But in that moment, the most important thing for us is we tried, we changed a little bit the formation when we brought on Dominic, and they did well.

“It is important for us and me as a coach that when the three players come in, they help the team. This must show us everybody is ready to play and everybody is fighting for his position in the squad.

“Of course I’m happy because the three came in and helped. Cenk the last two games at home has come on and scored twice, and Lookman and Dominic are working really hard to achieve what they want.”

Silva, whose side registered their third league win in a row, agreed with the assertion that the match had underlined the strength in depth he had.

He said: “It is really important for a club at our level. It is what we have to do - not just the 11 players but more than that.

“At this moment it is hard for me, not just the starting XI, but to do the squad list. But in this way we can grow as a squad, as a club.”

Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had kept the score at 0-0 on the hour mark by saving a Luka Milivojevic penalty.