David Unsworth highlighted the importance of Oumar Niasse after seeing his side progress to the knockout stages of the EFL Trophy.
The striker as a surprise inclusion for the Everton U21s side to face Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night, but scored both goals as .
The Blues lost a penalty shootout 5-4 to miss the chance of an extra point, but still progressed to the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in their four seasons of involvement.
And the manager, who was vocally unhappy with how his side attacked in their 2-1 loss to Liverpool at the weekend, felt they were much improved with Niasse up top.
"We tweaked how we played," Unsworth told the ECHO following the game.
"Obviously we had Oumar who was a great threat for us. We played some good football, great on the counter.
"We maybe should have scored four or five tonight."
The 29-year-old was playing his first match for Everton at any level since the senior side's 1-0 defeat away to Brighton on 29 December 2018, coming off the bench after 80 minutes on that occasion.
The striker played the full game this time around and scored both of his side's goals, the first a deflected effort inside the opening minutes of the game before neatly slotting away a confident finish in the 75th minute.
And Unsworth revealed it was always the plan to use Niasse for this match.
"Oumar was always going to play in this game," the manager commented.
"I can't speak highly enough of him, he was outstanding.
"He's an infectious character. People have tough times in football but it's how you respond, and he responds positively. He was a handful.
"I can't even tell you when his last 90 minutes was. For him to last the game in itself was unbelievable and shows his fitness levels are so high.
"I'm very proud of him. He's a great man is Oumar, always plays with a smile on his face. He's a good player, he's a threat in behind at any level.
"I was delighted to see him get his goals."
However, when asked if Niasse would play more games for his side in the near future, Unsworth admitted he couldn't give an answer.
The boss added: "I'm not sure, honestly I don't know.
"He might play one or two games, but we'll discuss that with Oumar.
"We'll pick and choose, if he feels like he needs a game we'll come to some agreement."
