Sean Dyche left impressed by ‘exceptional’ Everton star after Burnley

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Sean Dyche has highlighted Dwight McNeil’s ‘exceptional’ performance against Burnley.

Speaking in his post-match press conference (via LiverpoolWorld), Dyche admitted he was ‘very pleased’ with Everton’s display in the Carabao Cup.

Everton made it five wins from their last seven games in all competitions as they thrashed Burnley to progress through to the Cup quarter-finals.

James Tarkowski opened the scoring, while Amadou Onana and Ashley Young rounded off a brilliant result at Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, it was Dwight McNeil that assisted Tarkowski, combining to take the lead against their former club.

It was only the winger’s second goal contribution of the season, but Dyche admitted he was very impressed with McNeil and his teammates.

The Everton boss said: ““It’s not easy to win football matches in any competition.

“Cup games have a different feel, making sure the players are up for the challenge. Overall, very pleased. We started the game very bright, scored a very good goal then they came back at us, credit to them.

“We just went a little bit soft in the game, I thought, then at half-time we affected it as a unit, came out strong second half and came out worthy winners.

“We had to play forward more, be more physical in the game, in our presence and remind ourselves of the hard yards of the game. The boys believe there is quality here and doing the hard yards, the ugly side, the desire to take on a game and it flooded back into the team in the second half – and I thought it was a very strong half.

“Dwight McNeil was exceptional in the second half – his work ethic for the team and actual team play.”

Can Dwight McNeil kickstart his season now?

Dwight McNeil spent over a month on the sidelines at the start of the season and has only managed six starts in the Premier League, but Sean Dyche will be hopeful that he can kick on now.

The forward hasn’t scored a goal since the 5-1 win over Brighton in May, when he had become a key part of Everton’s survival.

While the Toffees will be eager to see McNeil start putting the ball in the back of the net, it is nice that the team are no longer relying on him in attack.

The likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Harrison and Abdoulaye Doucoure are all chipping in and it is a lot more balanced now.