Michael Keane says Everton “know we have to be better” and can’t rely on the goals of Dominic Calvert-Lewin for positive results following defeat at Newcastle United.

Striker Calvert-Lewin netted his eighth Premier League goal this season in the first minute of stoppage time at St James’ Park to provide Everton a flicker of hope after conceding twice in the second half.

Callum Wilson scored from the penalty spot 11 minutes after the break and added a second when he converted at the end of a Newcastle counter six minutes from the end.

Defender Keane refused to blame the absence of four frontline players for Everton’s second straight defeat.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side remain second in the table and welcome Keane’s former club Manchester United to Goodison Park next Saturday.

“We had the belief [Everton could equalise following Calvert-Lewin’s goal] and were pushing for it and waiting for something to fall for us in the box… but it didn’t happen,” said Keane.

“But we know we have to be better.

“We can’t rely on Dom scoring two or three every game, or a bit of luck in the last minute.

“We need to be better for 90 minutes, be more creative, take our chances when they come and tighten up at the back.

“I felt we were in control of the game without being much of a threat ourselves.

“But we gave away two bad goals, a penalty and a counter attack, which we spoke about before the game.

“It [counter] was one of the only ways they were going to hurt us, and they managed to catch us on the break and get the second.

“That made it more difficult for us.

“We tried to get back in the game and got a goal but ran out of time, so we are very disappointed.”

Everton were missing South American forward pair Richarlison and James Rodriguez at Newcastle.

Full-backs Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman were also unavailable.

Keane insists Everton boast sufficient talent to cope with any absences, however, instead focusing on the goals his side conceded.

The 27-year-old, Everton’s only ever-present in all competitions this season, was very good in the middle of his side’s defence.

Newcastle rarely opened up Carlo Ancelotti’s team, leaving Keane especially frustrated over the hosts’ two goals.

He said: “I am not feeling teams are cutting us open but we are conceding sloppy goals out of nowhere.

“You can’t say Newcastle were on top of us but they scored two and that is disappointing.

“We are looking at ways to stop that and the sooner we get a clean sheet the better because we are not going to score two, three, four every game.

“It does have an impact [missing the unavailable quartet], they are four big players.

“But the lads who came in have the full belief of everyone.

“We know what they are capable of and they are top-class players.

“We came into the game thinking we could win it if we played well – and had full belief we would win.

“We trust everyone in our squad, but it’s not happened for us today or last week.

“We need to bounce back as quickly as possible.”

Everton will aim to extend their unbeaten Goodison run – they have won four and drawn one, scoring 18 goals in five matches, this season – when they host United next week.

“We had a great start but now we have had two bad results,” added Keane.

“You can’t get too high or too low.

“You just have to focus on the next game.

“It is a good game to come back.

“United are playing well and it is one we are automatically right up for.

“The lads will be really up for it and desperate to bounce back.”