Everton secured another vital victory in their fight for survival in the Premier League this season against Brentford at Goodison Park yesterday and Sean Dyche will be thrilled that his influence on the team is paying off.

Following the result, the Toffees have now climbed out of the relegation zone and into 15th, however, with only two points between themselves and the bottom three, there is still plenty of work to be done over the remaining 11 league fixtures.

The former Burnley boss has certainly improved the performances on the pitch since his arrival in January - tallying up ten points and a 42.86% win ratio over his seven games in charge so far.

Indeed, there are many players who have simply just improved under his reign compared to their performances with predecessor Frank Lampard, however, Dyche has also increased game time for a few of the fringe players and outcasts which has clearly paid off.

The Merseysiders put on a resilient defensive performance against Thomas Frank's side - who were on a 12-game unbeaten run ahead of Saturday's clash - holding onto a 1-0 lead comfortably after Dwight McNeil delivered the winner in the opening minute of the game.

McNeil is one of Dyche's former Burnley prodigies that has seen his opportunities increase on the pitch, but it was another Turf Moor alumni who stole the spotlight to revive his Everton career.

How did Michael Keane perform against Brentford?

Michael Keane struggled significantly and was often pinpointed as part of the problem in Everton's relegation scrap last season with former goalkeeper Paul Robinson suggesting he suffers from "lapses in concentration" and was "costing Everton dearly."

That unsurprisingly led to his game time dwindling when Conor Coady and James Tarkowski were brought in to improve the defensive set-up last summer.

However, the 30-year-old centre-back has been given a golden opportunity over the last three games to prove himself to the Everton boss and against Brentford proved exactly why Dyche clearly still thinks he has a lot to offer at Goodison Park.

Over his 90-minute performance, the £80k-per-week titan was near impeccable from a defensive point of view, winning 100% of his ground duels which included one tackle and one interception.

Not just a hugely impressive presence on the floor, Keane was a colossus in the air, winning five aerial duels. The defender was seemingly everywhere, also tallying up three shots on goal.

It was a superbly solid display with Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison heaping praise on Everton for their defensive display on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (11 March, 4:57 pm).

Crediting Keane and Tarkowski's perfectly executed pairing in the back-line, he said: “Brentford were too slow in possession, but credit to Everton.

“They’ve been outstanding in this second half, defending.”

With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Dyche continues to put his trust in Keane by deploying him alongside Tarkowski as it would further put in doubt Coady's future on the blue side of Merseyside when his loan spell ends at the end of the season.