The victory over Arsenal on Monday, coupled with the way it was achieved, has breathed new life into our squad.

That is all it takes. One win and everyone is smiling again, bouncing into training. Confidence increases almost overnight and you want to cling to that feeling and run with it.

The environment is tough when results aren’t going your way. You feel you are disappointing so many people and your own professional pride is hurt.

We are all competitors and hungry to win and, to be honest, none of us before the game against Arsenal were concerned with how we got the result we wanted. Three points was the be-all and end-all.

I didn’t know what to expect from the atmosphere at Goodison for the game but I can only echo what some of the other lads have said.

The support from minute one was absolutely incredible. The noise that rolled around the ground when the songs and cheers grew louder, gave us a huge injection of confidence. We knew then that the fans were right behind us.

They could have given up on us a few times during the 90 minutes. We fell behind and had two goals disallowed. But it felt with every setback, the volume increased.

The fans have been brilliant for every match this season and they spurred us to that victory over a good Arsenal side.

I’ve told Dimi his winner was Townsend-esque, struck right into the top corner.

On a serious note, though, it was a fantastic goal from a really talented player. 

I've never scored a last-minute goal like that, so can't really tell you what was going through his mind when he slid on his knees and jumped into the crowd.

On the subject of goalscoring, it’s something we often come back to when talking about my game.

I had a nice run of five goals in seven games earlier in the season and I'm working hard to get back that scoring touch.

I probably sound boring going on about this – but I dream of scoring the ugly goals, the scruffy ones that flash across the box, the ricochets and rebounds.

You’ll do well to score more than three ‘worldies’ a season, so if you want to break into double figures, those poacher’s goals are essential.

The manager is big on getting crosses in the box but doesn’t only want his big number nine in there. He wants the wingers and second striker and a midfielder in the positions to convert those deliveries.

I am getting in the right areas and the opportunities will start dropping for me again.

One source of comfort during our recent dip was that we never felt we were losing touch with the European positions.

We banked a good number of points in the early games and knew a few wins would put us back where we want to be competing.

Beating Arsenal was a start, that result galvanised everyone and immediately improved our league position.

The aim now has to be a very good Christmas period to set us up for the second half of the season.

That begins with a visit to my old club Crystal Palace on Sunday. I loved my five years there and going back will be very emotional.

I’ve been watching Palace's games and their points tally doesn’t do justice to how well they’re playing.

It will be an extremely tough game, in front of a fanatical home support, but if we focus on ourselves there is no reason we can’t continue the job of climbing back up the table.

I had the privilege this week of joining a video call to some of the young patients at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

We were all really disappointed we couldn’t visit in person because of the ongoing restrictions.

I’ve heard so much about the hospital and its exceptional work and am looking forward to seeing it for myself when rules permit.

The children and their families have had an exceptionally tough time and I hope we were able to lift their spirits in some way.

They have shown incredible strength and are real inspirations for us all.