Gary O'Neil: 'Wolverhampton Wanderers display versus Everton my favourite this season'

Wolves went into Saturday's fixture with the Toffees on the back of beating Chelsea and Brentford in quick succession to remain within touching distance of the top half of the standings.

Despite the absence of key player Mario Lemina due to the passing of his father, the West Midlands outfit were able to comprehensively outplay Everton from the opening whistle.

Max Kilman gave Wolves a half-time lead before second-half efforts from Matheus Cunha and Craig Dawson ensured that the home side cruised to another three points.

The three triumphs for Wolves have come in less than a week, also at a time when, as well as Lemina, either Pedro Neto remained sidelined, Craig Dawson required stitches in a deep cut to his leg and Hwang Hee-chan suffered a back issue.

All three were able to take to the pitch at some point against Everton, but O'Neil was keen to heap praise on his team as a whole as they remained on the periphery of launching a bid for European qualification.

Speaking to Premier League Productions, O'Neil said: "An incredible week really. Nine points in six days with players missing, is an incredible effort from everyone. The work that goes in behind the scenes has helped the team. It was probably my favourite performance of the season.

"The togetherness is huge. We have always managed to bounce back and today we had a good understanding of what the players needed to do. Without the ball everybody did their bit. Big mention to Tommy Doyle, I thought he was excellent coming into the team.

"I was disappointed the two goals were marginally offside, especially for Pedro Neto on his return. We looked a real threat with lots of complicated movements in the box. 28 points from 20 games is amazing, so I'm delighted.

"It was incredible the amount of people and pundits who wrote this team off at the start of the season. I look forward to working hard to try and prove them wrong. The transfer window opens and we will do our best to strengthen. I just love working with the current group and my focus is on the players I have.

"This group have it in them. They have shown glimpses of it before. Maybe I've nudged them in the right direction and given them guidance. They have shown quality when they need to. It's still half a season to go but it's a really good day and a really good week."

Albeit having played one game more than many of the teams above them, Wolves remain in 11th position in the table but sitting just five points adrift of sixth-placed West Ham United.