Dwight McNeil believes self-confidence and his close relationship with Sean Dyche are the reasons behind his rejuvenation at Everton.
McNeil has been an ever-present since Dyche succeeded the sacked Frank Lampard at the end of January. And the former Burnley man continued his fine form with the only goal of the game as the Blues beat Brentford 1-0 at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
Everton kicked off Saturday’s fixture second from bottom after Bournemouth shocked Liverpool in the early game. However, the victory over Thomas Frank's side moved the Blues up to 15th in the table - their highest league placing since November 5 - and McNeil admitted post-match that the win was a massive confidence boost for the team, who had failed to win in their last three games.
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“It's all about staying calm and focused, everyone knowing their jobs, what to do out of possession. I thought everyone did it really well today,” he said.
“Another win at home, another clean sheet at home so it's massive confidence for the lads. We know we've got a difficult game coming up next weekend (at Chelsea) but today I thought everyone was bang at it and it was a good three points.”
McNeil has been transformed since Dyche’s arrival and is getting better with each passing week. His performances certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by the Goodison faithful.
“I think just having the confidence and belief in myself, and just getting back to basics, first and foremost, and build from the basics,” the winger replied when asked about his upturn in form.
“It's going well and we just want to move on together as a group, progress together, get more points on the board and get further up in the table.
“It's just remembering how I used to play when I first broke in under the gaffer. So it's just about taking that into the club here, believing in myself, my ability, just taking it a game at a time, just getting my confidence and trying to help the team the best I can.”
And when asked about his close relationship with his boss, McNeil revealed: “He gives you the freedom to play obviously within the shape but it's good to know that the lads believe in you, the manager believes in you, the coaching staff believe in your ability as well. Then it's just me taking the ownership of delivering that.”
McNeil’s strike - after 35 seconds - was Everton's fastest winning goal at Goodison and he admitted he was surprised to be offered a chance so early in the game.
"No, but it was just nice to get it and take it really well," he said when asked if he expected to get that chance so early. "It's a great pass from Alex (Iwobi) as well and then Doucs (Abdoulaye Doucoure) had the good awareness to find me.
"It was a good strike, a good start to the game. I thought we played well, especially in the first half. We had a lot of chances to go in at half-time more than 1-0 up but second half we always knew it was going to be difficult.
"They threw everything at us but I thought we defended well and got three points.”
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