Alex Iwobi admits his immediate recall to Everton’s starting XI at Watford came as a welcome surprise – and the forward insists his team's dramatic victory can prompt a late season surge up the Premier League table.

Iwobi injured his hamstring playing against former club Arsenal on the December day Carlo Ancelotti was officially appointed Everton manager.

The 23-year-old confessed he was “itching to show what I could do”, during six weeks on the sidelines when Italian Ancelotti launched his reign on a positive note.

Iwobi showed enough on the training pitch following his recovery to be selected for Saturday’s encounter.

He was on the field for 65 minutes as Everton recovered from 2-0 down to draw level – and hared up the touchline to join the wild celebrations which followed Theo Walcott’s 90th-minute winning strike.

“There is no better feeling than coming back and winning and it was the perfect day for me,” Iwobi told evertontv.

“I did not expect to come straight back in, the manager had us guessing with the set pieces we did on Friday, so we did not know [who was playing].

“But we were all ready to start. Whenever it was my time, I knew I would be ready.

“At times my reactions were a bit slow but that will come the more I am playing.

“I felt okay, not leggy at all.

“I always pushed on [during his recovery]. Even when I was told to relax – I tried to show I was able to get back fit.

“I was eager to be back, especially with a new manager. I was itching to show him what I could do.”

Iwobi signed for Everton in the closing hours of last summer’s transfer window and had featured 16 times in the Premier League before hurting his hamstring after 11 minutes of the Goodison Park meeting with Arsenal.

The Nigeria international, who played 100 games in the competition for his old club, made a bright start against Watford, dashing forwards after five minutes to create a presentable opportunity for Richarlison.

Iwobi was Everton’s most accurate passer in the hosts’ half as 84.2 per cent of his passes found their target and delivered three crosses from open play.

Walcott’s dramatic clincher at Vicarage Road, which followed a burst over halfway from Richarlison and prompted an eruption of unconstrained glee among Everton’s players, staff and supporters, left Ancelotti reflecting on four wins and two draws from his opening seven top-flight games at the helm.

Add the five points claimed by caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson immediately prior to Ancelotti’s arrival and Everton have gained 19 points from the past 30 available.

It is a sequence of form which has Everton poised for a tilt at a spot in the Premier League’s upper reaches with 13 matches remaining.

Ancelotti’s side is ninth but separated from Tottenham Hotspur in fifth by only four points.

“We just have to keep going to the end of the season,” said Iwobi, with Everton next in action when Crystal Palace visit Goodison on Saturday.

“Wins like this will give us the confidence that we can push on towards the top of the table.

“Let’s go as high as we can."

He added: “It wasn’t the greatest idea for me [to sprint towards the celebrating throng following Everton’s winner] because I ran – I wasn’t trying to tear my hamstring but I was close to doing it because of that celebration!

“It was an amazing feeling, everyone was running – that feeling is hard to describe. It is one of a kind."