AFTER the despair of the Arsenal game and the disappointment of the trip to Southampton we finally had something to get very excited about on Saturday.

I know press box etiquette dictates you shouldn’t celebrate too wildly when your team score but I just couldn’t help it when Scott Arfield rifled home the last minute winner against Everton on Saturday!

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If someone had offered me a point before kick-off I’d have happily snapped their hand off so to walk away with all three – especially in the face of plenty of Toffees’ pressure – was just marvellous.

To be fair to the lads they showed again the kind of qualities I think will keep us up this season.

Our work rate has never really been in doubt but we’re starting to get a little smarter with what I would call the ‘stagecraft’ of the Premier League.

Just little things like ensuring that after the winner went in, we weren’t in a rush to get back to the centre circle, thus giving Everton the chance to build for an equaliser.

Many may have hooked Arfield at half time after he was booked in the first half and then given a final warning by the overly-picky Mike Jones.

But it never crossed Sean Dyche’s mind and his persistence and faith was rewarded.

I also think the gaffer pulled off a tactical masterstroke by sticking James Tarkowski in front of the back four as the game wound down, depriving the ever-dangerous Romelu Lukaku of a supply line.

Things like that show we have learned from the last time we were in the top flight and, coupled with a better start to the campaign this time around, I think there are plenty of positives.

We’re not going to get the rub of the green every game but there was also a touch of fortune about our opener, Sam Vokes tapping in from close range after a wicked deflection made Arfield’s goal-bound effort difficult for Everton stopper Maarten Stekelenburg who could only parry into Vokes’ path.

We have the small matter of a trip to Old Trafford on Saturday where anything could happen after their defeat at Chelsea.

Whatever that may be we have to stay positive and keep up the belief that we deserve to be at this level.