Everton won at Bournemouth for the first time in the Premier Leagur thanks to Jack Grealish's late winner
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was impressed with the display of Tim Iroegbunam
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was impressed with the display of Tim Iroegbunam
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Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has hailed Tim Iroegbunam for keeping his cool for the final three quarters of Everton’s first ever Premier League win at Bournemouth while on a yellow card. With Idrissa Gueye injured, James Garner at right-back and Dewsbury-Hall himself already brought back into central midfield from his usual number 10 role, Blues boss David Moyes was out of alternative options in the engine room so despite picking up the booking that will ensure he is suspended against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the former Aston Villa man walked a disciplinary tightrope for the remainder of the game.
Dewsbury-Hall said: “I said to Tim, I’ve never seen a lad make so many clean tackles on a yellow card in my life. He got a yellow card in the 25th minute and made eight perfect tackles after that.
“I said, fair play lad. You’ve got some cojones to be able to keep going in when you’re on a yellow, but he reacted unbelievably today.
“No one had a good game really on Saturday, but the fact that he’s come back three or four days later and put in a great shift like that, shows the mentality of the lad.”
The 27-year-old was also full of praise for Jake O’Brien who produced a dominant display having moved from right-back to centre-back. Dewsbury-Hall said: “Jake’s got all the attributes to be a top centre-back. He’s quick, he’s strong, he’s aggressive.
“He’s been doing a job at right-back for us, which he’s done well. Obviously, it’s not his natural position and I think you can see tonight when he’s probably in his more natural position, he can be very dominant.
“I’m really, really happy with him, we’ll see what happens. We don’t know what sort of team, what sort of players are available for the weekend, but if he’s there again, then I’m sure he’ll do the same thing.”
When it came to his own role, Dewsbury-Hall – like he did in the previous away game at Manchester United – again showed he can be an effective attacking threat from deeper in midfield. He said: “I’ve said before, my most natural position is a box-to-box number eight. I’ll play anywhere the manager wants me, but most of my career I’ve played as a number eight, so I feel comfortable there.
“I can defend, I can drive forward with the ball, I can attack, I like running. I can do pretty much anything you need me to do, so I feel comfortable there.
“It was a good performance, not just by me, but by everyone. To get a clean sheet away from home is top for everyone, as long as the team wins, that's all I care about.”
After being beaten 4-1 at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday, Dewsbury-Hall believed Everton produced the perfect response to the Newcastle United game. He said: “It was nice that we got a game so quick after the weekend because it wasn’t the performance we wanted, we got criticism and rightly so, it was a bad performance.
“But it was about showing what sort of mentality the lads had tonight to come to a tough ground so quick after and try and right those wrongs and I feel like we did that tonight.
“It was a tough game, they make it hard here, they’re intense, but I thought in the second half we controlled the game a lot more, limited them to very little. I can’t remember many chances they had and we nicked our goal in the end, so, a perfect away performance, a great response.”
He added: “Apart from the blip, we’re in good form. We’ve won three of the last four against tough teams as well, tough games.
“We have to look back on the month and look at it mainly positively and then going into a busy month, it’s a great start. So, I think we can achieve something this season, I really do.
“We’ve got a great team, a lot of lads that want to work for each other. We’ve brought in good players, kept really good players.
“Everyone can see it’s a fascinating league this year. Anyone can do anything, what is it? Seven points from 15th to fifth.
“So, if you get a little run going, you’re right up there. So, I think that’s what we’re going to try and do and we’ve got plenty of games in December to do that and see where we are.”
When it comes to match-winner Jack Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall has been echoing his manager’s sentiments in trying to get him to have a crack more often. England manager Thomas Tuchel was pictured speaking to the on-loan Manchester City player after the 1-0 win at Old Trafford and when it comes to his colleague’s chances of an international recall, Dewsbury-Hall said: “Jack has got to keep putting good performances in and then he’s doing himself every chance of getting in, that’s all he can do.
“We all say as players we want to perform for our clubs and then it makes a tough decision for the national coach to pick us and, look, big moments, big players do that.
“I’ve been saying to him, start shooting more, start shooting more and look, see what happens today. He flicks off a lad and goes in, that’s football.
“So, I’m buzzing for him. Hopefully, he can continue that good form and then, see where it takes us.”