Everton boss Sean Dyche on key battle front in huge relegation win over Leeds United

Coleman’s second half strike from an acute angle, which caught Illan Meslier out of position, lifted Everton above the Whites, who finished the day second bottom of the Premier League.

It was a second win in three games for Dyche since taking over at Goodison and he lauded his squad's mentality as they took another step towards safety.

“What’s going through my head is, just a week of training, or [rather] recovery on Tuesday and then a couple of days training, the way the players have put that into practice, sticking to some of the principles that we think are important going forward and delivering a performance in order to win,” he said. I think that mentality was clear again today. And I think that's important going forward. It’s another step in the right direction, lots of steps still to be taken.”

Match winner Coleman, 34, was up against Leeds’ 19-year-old winger Gnonto, who has carried the most consistent attacking menace for Leeds in recent weeks. Dyche felt the veteran got the better of the visiting youngster early on.

“I know he’s had a lot of managers but you’ll find virtually every one of them has either played him or said what a great pro he is,” he said of his full-back.

"He’s got that edge, he keeps playing with that edge. Your fitness is good, your age is not relevant for me, it’s that edge. Their wide men have been playing really well, I’ve seen them a few times they’ve played really well and he locked that down very, very early in the game. A fantastic run and a fantastic finish to win us the match.”

Although victory lifted Everton to 16thand left Leeds in the drop zone, Dyche insists it’s no more than a sign that Everton are making progress.

“See the results today, the topsy turvy nature of the Premier League, it doesn’t guarantee anything but for me it just reinforces the work we’re trying to do with the players,” he said.

"I only try and guide them to what’s good for them. Today, finding that balance between defending very, very solidly which I think we did – I don’t think they had a shot on target today – and finding on the transitions how many times we can play ourselves. I thought there was some quality football at times from us.”