Abdoulaye Doucoure expressed his delight in the manner of how Everton concluded their home campaign, beating Sheffield United 1-0 in the penultimate game of the season.

The Blues midfielder nodded home Dominic Calvert-Lewin's cross in the first half, his 17th effort in Royal Blue and seventh for the season.

Saturday's result was the Toffees' fifth win and clean sheet at home on the bounce, a formidable run that has matched a previous Club record.

"We are very happy again for a good win at home, and for the last game at home, especially. We wanted to win," Doucoure said.

"[We have] five wins in a row at home, so it means we’ve finished the season very strong. Obviously, we are very happy so far."

The match-winning strike came on 31 minutes when Dwight McNeil fed the ball into the path of Calvert-Lewin who brought Wes Foderingham off his line before delivering the ball in for Doucoure to head home from close-range.

It's the second goal the Mali international scored against the Blades this season, having netted the opening strike in the 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane back in September.

"Dominic made a fantastic job for the goal," Doucoure continued. "I saw him go through the keeper, and I was just in a good position to score in an empty net. I’m very happy for that goal and it gives us another win, so I’m very happy for the team.

"This season, I’ve scored twice against [Sheffield United], so I’m very happy. I always love to score. I want to keep going and keep scoring."

It was a defensively sound performance from Sean Dyche's men once again, who picked up their ninth clean sheet in the top-flight this season, the most an Everton side have earned in the Premier League era.

That defensive stronghold will be required in the final game of the campaign when the Blues travel to title-chasing Arsenal next weekend.

Nevertheless, Doucoure says the squad's mindset will be to go out and secure maximum points to close out 2023/24.

"We were safe a couple of weeks ago, so now we want to enjoy by winning," he added.

"We’re going to go to the Emirates to try to win the game."