Sean Dyche spoke to the media after Abdoulaye Doucoure's superb strike earned Everton a 1-0 win over Bournemouth that retains the Blues' Premier League status for 2023/24. Read every word of the manager's post-match interview below, as he covers his personal pride at helping the Club survive, what was key to notching a final-day win over the Cherries and the work that needs to be done to ensure a brighter future...

How do you sum up your feelings?

Obviously it means a lot. It means a lot to me, I took over what some people called a broken club but it's not broken. It's had its cracks but it's not broken. We've shown that. We've shown the fighting spirit that you need but, equally, I've just told the players, that we shouldn't be in this state so we've got to learn from that. Next season is going to be a big season. It's a magic day but, at the end of the day, we shouldn't be in this shape.

How do you think you achieved it today?

The belief in the group. I think we've done well as staff to maintain that belief and kept [the players] believing. We see people dropping, we haven't got full-backs, losing centre forwards... but they're still going and the mentality has been terrific. I think Doucs has really been a shining light of that, with the way he's gone about it and he scores a terrific goal. At the end of the day, we have to learn from this experience because there's no point... You're only a big club if you give big club performances. You're only a big club if you're doing big club things. That's what we have to change because it is a big club but we have to get it back to being one on the pitch, not just off it.

Did you show big mentality today, though?

Yes. I mentioned that when I came here. It's not just about tactics, it's about mentality and the belief of a group. I'm super happy with that. We did it at Wolves last week, in the dying embers of a game we found a moment - and that's important. We obviously want to play better, do things better and have better on-pitch behaviours but you still have to have that underlying spirit and belief in each other to go and dog it out when you have to and that's what we did today.

To do that under these circumstances, it's almost impossible to put into words what was at stake... What sort of pride does that give you that the players showed that mentality?

Anyone can take the wheel of a ship in calm waters. That's the hardest part of a job in football - I came here with people saying it's broken and a lot needed changing. We've changed some things, not everything but I think we've affected the group and affected them enough to make sure we stay in the Premier League. We have to build on that though. It means a lot to me, of course, as a manager. You don't want that on you but it's difficult coming in halfway through, working on someone else's group. I'm pleased for myself and the staff but also pleased for the players, because they haven't gone off the idea of giving their lot. There have been some key moments in games that we haven't capitalised on and some key mistakes but today we made a big moment and made no mistakes.

That must have been one of the most important half-time team talks you've had to do in your career. What did you say to the players?

I didn't think we were doing much wrong. You've got to believe in the performance and without it being a classic performance, we were getting into good areas. We weren't getting enough bodies in the box but we were getting good deliveries into the box, particularly at the end of the half. So it was kind of a case of, 'Stay calm, keep playing'... It sounds easy and it's not easy. They're [the ones] out there. But then we score a great goal and it's hard then to motivate them to go and play because there are nerves. They try to see it through and go into fight mode. I'm pleased we went into fight mode to see it through but that's when you need the real calmness, true calmness to control the ball and control the game. We lost sight of that but at the end of the day, I understand. It's very difficult and we've got a very difficult task done.

Was that as big a challenge - managing the game once going ahead?

Yes because then Bournemouth have got freedom, of course. They stayed up, using the ball, they dropped out with their three centre halves and started loading the box after putting the big, physical players on. It's difficult. You don't want to come out of shape too early to press because then they can open that chance up and it drops in behind you. You want to consolidate. We found a way of seeing it through. We found enough points to get us through this season and, as I said, there's a lot to be done, a hell of a lot to be done.

How long did that 10 minutes of stoppage time feel for you?

About 47 minutes! You can see the sweat still dripping off me. There are no heroics from me. No manager wants these games. You have to find a twisted way of enjoying it but at the end of the day, it's a horrible game for all concerned at Everton Football Club. But, of course, it's fantastic when you come through it and get the job done.

Can you solve it? Can you help this not happen again?

That's the task. I came here as the man to do a job and a chance. I knew there was a risk from the noise that was around the club from pundits and people saying we were done. I'm pleased to say we got it over the line. You've got to remember we lost a very important player, a very important centre forward along the way. Everyone has been talking about scoring goals, the hardest end of the business, but we've found ways of winning games and getting points. That's a good base to build from - but it does need building.

How grateful are you to the support from Evertonians?

I can't praise them enough. It was a shame we couldn’t get to thank our fantastic supporters after the final whistle but it was a security-led decision for the team not to go back on.

It goes without say how grateful we are to them for their terrific backing for the team, not just today but home and away throughout the season, and especially for me as a new manager at this great club.