Steven Gerrard hailed match winner Emi Buendia as he continues to steer Aston Villa on track to recovery.
Gerrard has now won five of his 10 league matches since arriving in November and has a clear plan working in a settled structure and improving his players.
Buendia and revived midfielder John McGinn are just two such examples as they both impressed against Everton.
Gerrard said: "Emi's been getting stronger and better in terms of his individual performances over the last few weeks.
"Many outside would have thought his position would be under threat with (Philippe) Coutinho's arrival but he has helped Phil settle in and I am proud of both of them.
"The thing with Emi is people see him as a little, technical footballer, which is good but he will compete, he will go to ground for you and be big in the air.
"'Ginny' was fighting for everything. We missed him against United (last weekend's 2-2 draw), so to have him (back) showed how important he is for Villa."
Buendia rated the win over Everton was a "massive" three points as the club picked up their first win in 2022.
He added: "It's an incredible result for us, massive three points. We came into a really difficult game because they are a strong team, just in a difficult situation.
"They changed their manager this week so we knew before the game it would be tough and I think we battled very, very well over the 90 minutes."
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