It was a good day for a couple of Everton's veteran players with Nigel Martyn rolling back the years with an athletic stop and substitute Duncan Ferguson - with a possible January retirement still looming over him - making a positive contribution.

Irvine said: "Nigel made a crucial save, as it looked like it was going to be a goal from where I was standing.

"The introduction of Duncan changed the shape of the team and helped relieve some pressure.

"We found that it allowed us to play the game more in our attacking half."

Another positive note came from what was only Tim Cahill's second goal of the season.

Cahill was Everton's top scorer in the previous campaign with 11 and Irvine hopes the goal will now set the Australian midfielder off on a run.

He said: "It was nice for Tim to get a goal and we hope this will now set him off on a run as Tim's goals were a huge bonus for us last season."

Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy said: "For the most part of the afternoon it was enjoyable and energetic and we were creating chances.

"It's difficult when you've lost but it doesn't mean that everything that came before was bad because it's not.

"Things would have been different if we'd have shown a bit more quality in front of goal."