Sam Allardyce: 'Wayne Rooney mastered midfield role'

Everton manager Sam Allardyce has claimed that Wayne Rooney "mastered" his deeper-lying midfield role during his side's 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion this afternoon.

Rooney was named as part of a midfield trio alongside Tom Davies and Gylfi Sigurdsson at Goodison Park, and produced an influential performance in the absence of Idrissa Gueye as the Toffees ended a run of back-to-back defeats.

The 32-year-old missed the chance to cap off his performance with a goal when he saw his late penalty saved by Mathew Ryan, but Allardyce was nonetheless impressed with his overall display.

"I think the quality told in the end. It's a shame Wayne missed the penalty because he had a very good performance in a sitting midfield role," he told reporters at his post-match press conference.

"While all the players played really well, I thought he mastered that position today. I thought he was our prompter. He kept the ball moving and getting it forward, and kept the flow of the attacks going.

"Overall a very good performance, which isn't unusual at home - it is what has been delivered on a regular basis."

Rooney has started just five matches in a deep-lying playmaker role this season.