Everton boss Marco Silva praised home fans after their 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

Everton were inspired by a red-hot atmosphere as Silva's players battled to a hard-fought draw in the 233rd meeting with Liverpool.

Silva was keen to stress the point in his post- match press conference and described the support of the Everton fans as "fantastic".

"Let me say one thing to you; in my opinion one of the most important things happened this afternoon," he said.

"The atmosphere in our stadium was fantastic, amazing.

"In the pre-match press conference I said that the fans could play a key part in the match, and they were really the 12 player on the pitch, no doubt about that.

“I know it's a special match, a derby, but if you could put this atmosphere, 70 or 80 per cent of it, every match, then 30 or 40 per cent of our job is done because they can push our team to win, and they can make it really difficult for all our opponents, as they did this afternoon.

"We expect that they do that again in the next home match, because they can be a key player every time we play at Goodison.

“I felt really fantastic, and if I am sitting on the other bench or on the opposing team, I would be feeling that things are really difficult for me.

"It's something I want, this desire every match, it is our obligation to show this every time, and together we can make things really difficult for all the teams, and show them that this is Goodison Park."