Sean Dyche has praised his side for producing a pragmatic display that helped secure three crucial points against Burnley in the 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon. 

On the stroke of half-time, Dominic Calvert-Lewin charged down an attempted clearance from Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, causing the ball to rebound off Everton’s No.9 and loop into the net. 

That provided enough to see off Vincent Kompany’s men who were reduced to 10-men midway through the second half following a reckless challenge from defender Dara O’Shea on Dwight McNeil. 

“The win plays its part in changing the recent storyline,” said Dyche as the Blues ended what had been an 13-game winless run in the Premier League. 

“I don’t think it’s been an accurate story with our performance levels - ironically we don’t perform today as well as we have done. 

“I spoke to the players about that, we deliberately made the game ugly. We got the ball forward and asked as many questions as possible to make sure we put some confidence in the game and to make sure we had that front-foot feeling. Overall, it got us the result.

“I was happy with the performance in that we designed it to be that way, there were passages that we gave the ball away too easily, quite obviously, but you have to find a way of winning. We have dominated games here, everyone knows that, they have seen it with the xG and all that, but we haven’t found a way to win. 

"So it is important we find a way to win - I am pleased with that side of things."

The clean sheet was Everton’s ninth of the campaign - only Arsenal have managed more across the Premier League this season. 

On the defensive showing, Dyche added: “They had one shot on target, that’s pleasing on that side of the game. A lot of work has been done, we had people pull out late, which can be awkward. So there’s a lot of things going on, we have handled it well and got a pleasing result.”

Having ended his goal drought away at St James’ Park when he cooly converted from the spot in the 1-1 against Newcastle United, Calvert-Lewin has now netted in successive games for the first time since September. 

Dyche acknowledged it’s been a frustrating run for Everton’s No.9 but believes his double this week is just a reward for the forward "sticking to task" across recent months. 

“I am really pleased for him,” said Dyche reflecting on the goal. “He has stuck at it and kept working. He and Beto have shared bits of games and I am pleased for him. 

“I went with him today, I am pleased with his performance. He could have knocked one in earlier actually, there was a similar incident where he just nearly gets there, but I am pleased with his pressing - he gets a goal out of nothing. 

“That’s important to a striker. At the end of the season, it doesn’t say how the goals come it just says how many you have got. So [the goal] is an important factor for him and an important factor for us today.”