Carlo Ancelotti pinpointed Everton missing “the little details” as key to their 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.

In a game of few opportunities, the Blues boss felt the hosts’ 56^th-minute penalty from Callum Wilson proved the turning point to tip a balanced contest up until that point in Newcastle’s favour.

Wilson netted again six minutes from time when the striker turned in Ryan Fraser’s cross, only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin – with his eighth goal of the season - to tuck home Alex Iwobi's low cross in the first minute of added time and set up a frantic finish.

Ancelotti praised his team for showing spirit with their late rally but rued the moments where they lost focus in a match he felt they were on course to take something from without the likes of James Rodriguez, Richarlison, Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman.

“It’s where we missed today – the little details,” said Ancelotti. “We knew we didn’t have the usual quality up front but I said to my players, ‘Be focused defensively, don’t give a gift as we don’t want to lose'.

“It was not a good performance. The game was in the balance, they opened the scoring, we were a little bit slow in the contact, we gave them a gift in the penalty and after that, the game is changed. As usual, it happened and we woke up later but the performance was not good.

“We knew it would be this sort of game, without a lot of opportunities. Until the penalty, the game was in the balance. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities, Newcastle didn’t have a lot of opportunities - we just needed to continue like this, don't let them have a gift and keep the match balanced and we could open at the end.

“We woke up later because we were 2-0 down, we had a good reaction but it was not enough.”

Robin Olsen was handed his Blues debut at St James’ Park and the Swedish international keeper made a solid bow, denying Allan Saint-Maximin in the first half before tipping Sean Longstaff’s goalbound effort over the bar shortly after Wilson’s penalty.

Ancelotti acknowledged the on-loan Roma keeper’s contribution, before confirming Jordan Pickford would be back between the sticks for next Saturday’s clash against Manchester United at Goodison, where the Blues boss wants to see a reaction from his side.

“Robin did well, he did his job,” said Ancelotti. “He’s a goalkeeper with experience. I think he deserved to play, he’s been working well and now Jordan will be back.

“We have two really good goalkeepers. It’s what we need. Robin is going to play again - I’m not sure when, but the next game it will be Jordan in goal.

“We have to recover some players who are injured in this moment. We have back Digne [from suspension], maybe Coleman, maybe James. But we have to be focused because Manchester United are doing well.

“It will be another tough game. It’s not a good moment for us, we have to react well. After a good start, it’s a moment where we’ve suffered a little bit, we have a lot of players out. I hope to recover players this week and have a good performance against Manchester United.”