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Duncan Ferguson has revealed he took charge of Everton on an emotional day at Goodison whilst wearing a watch that belonged to the great Howard Kendall.

Ferguson, installed as the club's caretaker manager following Marco Silva's sacking, took the Blues out of the bottom three with a 3-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday.

The 47-year-old opted to sport a club suit and tie instead of a tracksuit for the game but still wore his trademark Everton sweatband on his left wrist.

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But on Ferguson's right wrist was an Armani watch that was owned by Everton's greatest ever manager and given to him to wear by the Kendall's widow Lilly.

Big Dunc shared an incredibly close relationship with the late Kendall and says wearing his mentor's watch, which has stopped with the hands at just before 8:15, was "very emotional".

"I will tell you a wee story if you want," Ferguson said.

"I have the wrist band and I have the watch, which does nae actually work. It’s Howard Kendall’s. Lily came down and gave it to me to put on my wrist and wear it. I was in between tracksuit and suit and things like that. Lily gave it to my wife this morning.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

"She said she wanted me to wear it on the bench for Howard. I loved him. It was very emotional. It does nae work. But there you go, it’s nice. It’s an amazing feeling, really. To get the result and you could just feel it in the stadium, couldn’t you? Everyone was so happy, everything went well."

Ferguson admits it would have been "devastating" if Everton's troubled run had continued on Saturday but an early goal from Richarlison, and two second-half strikes from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, ensured a first win in four matches.

After a whirlwind two days, Big Dunc says the victory would allow him to relax for the remainder of the weekend before he turned his focus to Sunday's trip to Old Trafford, with the squad due back at Finch Farm on Tuesday.

The caretaker boss does not know how long his temporary reign will last , as Everton search for a permanent replacement for the sacked Marco Silva, but was relieved to have played a part in giving the club a "lift".

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"It would have been devastating. Devastating," Ferguson said, when asked how he would've coped with a defeat.

"Yeah, it would have been devastating for myself. I would have had to live with it forever. But for the fans, as well. Relegation. We were in the bottom three, weren’t we? It would have been incredible.

"For the community, for everybody in this stadium. It’s their club and heaven forbid if anything went wrong. That is what goes through your mind. It was for everyone else."

"I can rest tonight and tomorrow," he added.

"Then we can get back to it during the week. We will see where we are and see what is happening in the next game.

"It was an incredible lift and we just needed it. I’m so delighted we got the three points and you could feel it in the stadium. You could feel it in the city. Everyone was just willing it."

As it stands, Ferguson will be in the dugout for the game with Manchester United and he says the performance against Chelsea has set the standard from which the players now cannot slip.

"They have got to do it again, don’t they?" he said. "Today was about getting the three points but now we have got a full week to get them recovered and go again. That has to be the base line for what we are doing.

"We are at the bottom of the league. So we have got to make sure the work ethic, running around and covering the grass – doing the things they should be doing, anyway – remains. There is no walking. You MUST do it. You have to cover the full-backs. You must run."