New Everton manager Sam Allardyce praised his players for their "effort" and "performance" following their 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town this afternoon.

Second-half goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin ensured that Allardyce's reign at Goodison Park got off to the best possible start, also earning them their first consecutive victories in the Premier League this season.

As a result the Toffees moved into the top half of the table and eight points clear of the relegation drama, leaving Allardyce impressed with the potential of his new charges.

"It was nice to see this stadium, looking around and seeing it full with the welcome. Then it was about the players delivering a performance and result today," he told BBC Sport. "This was probably their first back-to-back wins this season. The effort from the players in the second half, they really wanted to win it after finding it difficult in the first half, maybe with a bit of fatigue.

"The first goal settled us down. Defensively, did Huddersfield have a chance today? That gave us a platform to go and win the game. Our third clean sheet of the season, that's two on the trot and ironically we have two wins from it. It could have been better for entertainment, more passing and moving but we can build on that as we go on.

"I've learned the squad can dig in and be resilient already. They know they let too many goals in before I got here and that has to stop. We can build on the attacking play more once we have established that solid defensive unit."

Next up for Everton is a trip to Apollon Limassol in the Europa League on Thursday, ahead of the Merseyside derby with Liverpool at Anfield next Sunday.