Display Pleases Moyes

Blues boss takes positives from 1-1 draw at Stoke.

David Moyes felt there were plenty of positives to take away from the Britannia Stadium despite seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw by battling Stoke.

A Peter Crouch own goal gave the Blues the lead on the stroke of half time but substitute Cameron Jerome beat Tim Howard with the aid of deflection to level midway through the second half.

"I thought we played really well tonight, we passed the ball really well," said Moyes. "There were loads of positives, everything about Everton tonight was really good.

"I thought in the first half we played better than we did in the second half. Because we had so much of the ball (in the first half), we wanted to do it again in the second half and we wanted to score the perfect goal. And we nearly did a few times. I'm just a bit disappointed we didn't get the second goal.

"Stoke got better in the second half, they rallied and put us under a bit of pressure. We should've dealt with the ball through for the goal. Even before the final deflection it bounced off one of our players. But we had good fortune with our goal as well.

"Most teams who come here don't go away disappointed with a point."

Sylvain Distin was again impressive in deputising for the injured Leighton Baines at left back and Moyes added: "Distin was fabulous. His power and his strength were excellent, which made it easier because we worried when we lost Leighton."

Meanwhile, Moyes confirmed a groin injury forced Victor Anichebe out of the action in the first half.