Ross Barkley admitted his goal in Everton’s 2-0 win over West Ham came after a ‘difficult spell’ this season.

The Toffees midfielder came in for criticism from manager Ronald Koeman earlier in the campaign, but the Dutchman was fulsome in his praise following a man of the match performance against the Hammers.

Barkley was denied by a stunning first-half save from West Ham goalkeeper Adrian, but he got his goal late on after linking up well with Romelu Lukaku.

The England international was relieved to be on the scoresheet after what has been a challenging period. “It meant a lot to me,” Barkley told Sky Sports.

“I haven’t scored for a few games now. I came through a difficult spell. I’ve just been working hard and today it paid off.” Everton ended a four-game winless streak in the league by overcoming West Ham.

For Koeman, there was a lot to admire in Barkley’s play. Having challenged the 22-year-old to raise his game this season, Koeman was delighted to see the results.

“He was working hard, he was tackling and offensively he was important in the game,” Koeman said. “He had some shots on target, Adrian made an incredible save from him in the first half, he scored the second goal, he was the link between the back and the front in creating and that’s the play we want to see from our midfield.

“That’s what you need to do and then, normally, these kind of players, with the individual qualities that they have, they make the difference.”

Everton are 11.00 to finish in the top four this season, while they are 6.00 to win their next game away at Chelsea on Saturday.