Sam Allardyce Delighted With 'Resilient' Everton Win on Managerial Toffees Debut
Sam Allardyce has backed his 'resilient' Everton players to use their back-to-back Premier League victories as a platform to overhaul their season.
The new Toffees boss was handed a perfect start to his Goodison Park reign as Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck to hand him a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield in his first game at the helm.
Speaking to BBC Sport after the contest, Allardyce stated that his side's growing defensive prowess and ability to dig out results had left him feeling extremely content as he plots a route up the table in the coming weeks and months.
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He said: "I've learned the squad can dig in and be resilient already. They know they let too many goals in before I got here and that has to stop. We can build on the attacking play more once we have established that solid defensive unit."
The hosts were made to work hard for their three-point haul, but after the midweek thrashing of West Ham, have now secured two wins and two clean sheets on the spin - form which pleased Allardyce no end.
He continued: "The first goal settled us down. Defensively, did Huddersfield have a chance today? That gave us a platform to go and win the game.
"Our third clean sheet of the season, that's two on the trot and ironically we have two wins from it. It could have been better for entertainment, more passing and moving but we can build on that as we go on.
"This was probably their first back-to-back wins this season. The effort from the players in the second half, they really wanted to win it after finding it difficult in the first half, maybe with a bit of fatigue."
Allardyce was handed a warm reception by Everton's fanbase as he took to the dugout for the first time in L4, and he admitted it was a special welcome afforded to him by a group of fans who are always honest about their feelings.
He added: "It was nice to see this stadium, looking around and seeing it full with the welcome. Then it was about the players delivering a performance and result today."
