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Marco Silva declared himself satisfied with Andre Gomes’ first appearance in an Everton shirt two months after the Portuguese midfielder arrived on loan from Barcelona.

But the Blues boss also explained why replaced Tom Davies who had captained the the Blues in his last three Premier League appearances.

Gomes left the pitch to an appreciative ovation after the midfielder had impressed for 82 minutes.

And Silva said: “He did well, like we expected.

Relive all the action from Everton's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace HERE

“He is working really hard and well. He is a player who can give us different things in that zone.

“I am happy with Tom Davies and his performances as well. I knew and I expected a tough game this afternoon and we needed Andre to control the ball and give different solutions for us in some moments. He is a little bit of a different profile from Tom.”

Silva’s three substitutions all paid rich dividends with Ademola Lookman supplying the cross for fellow sub Dominic Calvert-Lewin to make an 87 minute breakthroguh and then Cenk Tosun scoring a superb clinching goal two minutes later.

“It is football,” shrugged Silva. “Sometimes you change and everything goes well, like happened this afternoon. Other times you try and it’s not the same.

“We tried, we changed the formation when we brought on Dominic and they did well. It is important for us and for me as a coach that when three players come on, they change the team.”

Silva was also delighted with the squad’s growing strength in depth, with Yerry Mina named on the substitutes’ bench for the first time.

Adam Jones assessed Andre's performance HERE

“It is really important for a club at our level,” he added. “It’s what we have to do, not just the 11 players but more than that.

“At the moment it is hard for me not just to select the starting XI but to do the squad list. But in this way you can grow as a squad, and you can grow as a club.”