Jake O'Brien had an ideal maiden Premier League start for Everton as David Moyes' men got the better of Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 on Sunday afternoon.
The towering Irish defender signed for the Toffees from Lyon in the summer, but found competitive minutes hard to come by with the club's former manager - Sean Dyche - leaving him down the pecking order.
Short cameos vs Aston Villa and Manchester United were the extent of his season on a Premier League pitch before he was backed from the start by his new manager.
Moyes - who has returned the job in which he first rose to prominence - gave his public backing to the 23-year-old ahead of the game as he sought out a winning formula.
"I think he's been knocking at the door and I think everyone's been wanting to have a look at him - I do as well. I'm going to try to have a look at as many players as quickly as I can."
Moyes' gamble paid off, with the Cork native togging out on the right side of the Everton defence and they did the damage in the first-half. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Iliman Ndiaye both found the net before Spurs' Archie Gray added an own-goal.
Spurs scored twice in the second-half but it was too little too late as O'Brien's first Premier League start for the club resulted in a win.
Moyes Explains Jake O'Brien Change After Win Vs Spurs
It was an interesting pre-match decision from Moyes to start O'Brien on the right side of defence given the 6'6" defender has made his name in the centre.
Moyes persisted with highly-rated Jarrad Branthwaithe and James Tarkowski in the centre, highlighting their experience as a key factor in O'Brien shifting to the role typically held by Seamus Coleman.
We've got two very experienced central defenders and I wanted to find a way of fitting him in... I thought Jesper (Lindstrom) did a really good job as well to be fair.
It is a sign of Moyes' faith in O'Brien that he was willing to bring him in in a new role in order to see what he could bring to the team.
It has been a good few days for the former Crystal Palace player, who received the praise of Coleman after the veteran took charge of their recent FA Cup win vs Peterborough.
O'Brien will hope to be in the reckoning when Everton travel to take on Brighton next Saturday in the Premier League as they look to build on their new-found momentum.
