Duncan Ferguson admits Everton felt a "wee bit of relief" having survived a scare against Rotherham United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Blues needed extra-time to get past the Championship outfit in the third round tie at Goodison Park.
Cenk Tosun handed Everton an early lead but Rotherham deservedly equalised early in the second-half through the impressive Matt Olosunde.
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Everton thought they had edged ahead late on but Tosun's goal - after he slid onto James Rodriguez's free-kick - was ruled out for offside by the VAR.
The tie went to extra-time and it would be substitute Abdoulaye Doucoure who won it for Carlo Ancelotti's side, when he raced onto Rodriguez's through-ball to make it 2-1.
Ferguson says there was a collective sigh of relief at the full-time whistle.
He said: “It was a tough match, I thought we started the game well, got an early goal, Cenk took his goal well. I thought we had the best of the first 25 minutes and then Rotherham came back, pushed us all the wall and got the equaliser.
"It was a tough game for us and one we were delighted to get through".
Ferguson added: “It was a tough match so you are always fearing the worst when they got a corner in the last minute so it was a wee bit of relief."
Ancelotti named a strong starting XI for the tie, but was without players including Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Ferguson says he expects the Italian to continue selecting strong sides for the rest of the competition.
“It is very important, it is a priority for us, it gives us a chance to win a cup for the fans. It is a big competition for us and hopefully we can go as far as we can.
"We will carry on picking strong teams and take it really seriously. We won't be chopping and changing.
"The team he picked today we are taking seriously and picking the strongest team we could pick and hopefully we can go as deep as we can."
