David Unsworth praises Everton resilience after Crystal Palace draw

David Unsworth praised his Everton side after they earned a hard-fought point in the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.

The home side twice led through James McArthur - after 51 seconds - and Wilfried Zaha, but a Leighton Baines penalty and a goal from Oumar Niasse on the stroke of half-time earned the visitors a point.

Unsworth made a double substitution at half-time as Tom Davies and Dominic Calvert-Lewin were introduced, and the latter came closest to winning the contest early in the second period as Palace 'keeper Julian Speroni made a fine save low down.

Former defender Unsworth, who remains in caretaker charge of the Blues following the sacking of Ronald Koeman last month, was encouraged by how his side held onto their point with the hosts looking the more likely to snatch victory in the closing stages.

"Palace are a good team," he said. "They caused us problems and they have great individual players. In the period that I've been a footballer, this has always been a tough place to come.

"To be down twice in the game, we've shown some great resilience. It was a really hard-fought point.

"I thought we had a little bit more control [in the second-half]. We tweaked the formation a little bit. Morgan Schneiderlin had to come off as he had a little jab in his toe before the game so he was struggling with that.

"It's horrible for any coach to be sat there after one minute 1-0 down, but the lads were terrific and showed great fight and desire to come straight back and I'm very proud of them."

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Everton were perhaps a little fortunate to be handed the chance of an immediate equaliser after Niasse was adjudged to have been brought down by Scott Dann after five minutes, allowing Baines to level from the spot.

While his counterpart Roy Hodgson claimed the Senegal striker had "dived" to win his side a penalty, Unsworth defended his player and praised his continued resurgence in an Everton shirt.

He added: "It's a long way away from where I am but the one thing I know about Oumar is that he's an honest guy and he wants to score goals. So if he has an opportunity to take a strike on I know he will take that. I'll have to look at it again.

"He's done it [got back in contention] himself with a little bit of hard work and belief. What he gives is everything. He works and works and he's got his reward. It's not just his work-rate as he's got the goals to back it up."

Everton will resume their search for Koeman's permanent successor next week, with Watford boss Marco Silva the front-runner for the position, despite Unsworth having now taken four points from his last two Premier League games.

The Toffees slipped to 16th in the table courtesy of Bournemouth's fine 4-0 win at home to Huddersfield, but Unsworth may once more be in the dugout for the forthcoming games against Atalanta and Southampton.

The 44-year-old has expressed his desire to take the role on a permanent basis, but he stressed the decision ultimately lies out of his hands.

"I've had a lot of thoughts but I couldn't tell you because I don't make the decision," he said.

"The people who matter know how I feel. I'm just very proud to lead the team and club. However long that lasts for, it will continue to be a proud feeling for me. I'm sure I'll have conversations over the weekend, so we shall see."