What David Moyes said after Brighton win bodes extremely well for £17m Everton player

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David Moyes has made a great start at Everton after recently returning for a second spell – and one player now looks set for a new lease of life.

Everton took three more huge points on Saturday, beating Brighton 1-0 at the Amex Stadium.

IIiman Ndiaye’s penalty was the difference between the two sides on the south coast.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
12	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	22	6	9	7	25	28	-3	27
13	Man UtdManchester United	22	7	5	10	27	32	-5	26
14	West HamWest Ham	22	7	5	10	27	43	-16	26
15	TottenhamTottenham	22	7	3	12	45	35	10	24
16	EvertonEverton	22	5	8	9	19	28	-9	23
17	WolvesWolves	23	4	4	15	32	52	-20	16
18	IpswichIpswich	23	3	7	13	21	47	-26	16
19	LeicesterLeicester	22	3	5	14	23	48	-25	14
20	SouthamptonSouthampton	23	1	3	19	16	53	-37	6

It was another top defensive performance from Everton, with Jordan Pickford, aided by those in front of him, picking up his eighth Premier League clean sheet of the season.

Everton staying defensively solid between now and the end of the season will be so important.

The trio of Pickford, James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite has served the Toffees so well this season – but after the win over Brighton, Moyes dropped a really encouraging verdict on Jake O’Brien.

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Jake O’Brien set for heavier involvement at Everton as David Moyes sings his praises after Brighton win

Jake O’Brien signed for Everton from Lyon in the summer for a reported £17 million (Sky Sports).

Fans were excited to see him come in but it quickly became apparent that Sean Dyche did not particularly rate him.

Before the arrival of Moyes, O’Brien had made just two Premier League appearances.

O’Brien got a run out against Peterborough United under Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman after the sacking of Dyche and on Saturday, Moyes said he saw him play against the Posh.

And the Scot has hinted O’Brien will now be in line for greater involvement.

He said in his post-match press conference, he showered praise on O’Brien, saying: “Leighton played him in the cup against Peterborough and I watched the game and thought he did quite well.

“He’s a centre-half, but a lot of young central defenders make their debuts as full-backs. I was one when I was at Celtic. Jake, at the moment, might need to (play wider), we’ve got two really good centre-backs.

“To get him in we’ve tried to use him a little bit as a full-back, a little bit as a hybrid, sometimes playing a bit further in. Try and get him so game time. He’s improving, he’s got a long way to go, he’s got a lot of things to do. But I’ve been really pleased.

“The two performances (vs Spurs and Brighton), he’s come into the team and we’ve won two games so, great! In the main, he kept Mitoma pretty quiet overall.”

O’Brien has already hailed the arrival of Moyes as ‘very positive’, and one gets the sense the appointment could be game-changing for him personally.

O’Brien seems fancied by Moyes

Everton fans can probably expect to see O’Brien enjoy a much more productive second half of the season under Moyes, given the manager’s latest comments.

Moyes knows that he has two great centre-backs in Tarkowski and Branthwaite.

And yet, he still wants to find a way to get O’Brien involved, and has even tweaked the system slightly to accommodate him.

It has been a tough start for him since his summer move, but the early suggestions are that he is a player Moyes fancies.

Everton fans recently said they couldn’t believe how little O’Brien featured under Dyche, but it could now be all change for him as Moyes seeks to execute a safety mission at the club.