Everton assistant boss Alan Irvine says their new diamond formation worked a treat against Werder Bremen.

Phil Neville enjoyed a more attacking role in the system and Irvine told evertonfc.com: "Phil showed great energy and is obviously an intelligent footballer.

"He played in a slightly different position tonight. With it being a diamond he was a bit further forward to start with.

"It was an opportunity to play with a diamond formation and we played some good football."

Overall, Irvine was impressed with the way Everton fared against high-calibre opposition.

"I was really pleased with how we did," he added. "We have got a lot of positives to take from tonight. We became the more dangerous team and had a lot of attempts at goal."