Sean Dyche praised his Everton team after securing Premier League survival with three games remaining after a turbulent season by beating Brentford 1-0 on Saturday.
The Goodison Park club were in trouble just a few weeks ago, with their position worsened by the loss of eight points for financial breaches.
But they have turned it around dramatically this month, winning four of their last five matches, the exception being a 6-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye struck the decisive blow against Brentford, scoring home in the 60th minute.
The victory took Dyche’s men to 36 points – 11 ahead of Luton, who are 18th in the table and have just three games to play.
It is a huge relief for the nine-time English champions, who have been a fixture in the top flight since the 1954/55 season.
“Incredibly pleased and proud,” said Dyche, who also faced a tough battle last season to retain Everton after being appointed in January 2023.
“They are a group of players who have suffered losses all season. Four out of five clean sheets and wins with all the growing noise after the Chelsea game is incredible.
“The mentality of the players is fantastic. Super satisfied. Very proud.”
The former Burnley manager said it had been an “exhausting week” which included a rare 2-0 home win over Merseyside rivals Liverpool.
“The emotion surrounding it, I wondered how the players would react,” he said.
“With XG (expected goals), we were asked how many times we didn’t win games.
“They had an incredible week. There’s a lot of pressure and intensity during the week and can you do it again? In the second half we controlled the game very well.”
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