RELIEVED David Moyes praised the character of his Everton players after they survived a late West Ham United onslaught to end their winless run.

Moyes’s side earned a first victory in eight games with a tense 2-1 triumph at Upton Park yesterday.

Louis Saha’s ninth goal of the season had given Everton a half-time lead which was doubled by a 64th-minute strike from Dan Gosling.

But an unfortunate own goal from Tony Hibbert barely a minute later prompted a strong revival from the Hammers during the closing quarter.

And Moyes admits the Goodison outfit have plenty of room for improvement, while accepting the win was “much-needed” at the end of a hectic schedule of seven games in 23 days.

“We have not played that well lately,” said the Everton manager.

“We can’t ask for any more than the win but we need to play better.

“West Ham had a good result against Arsenal when they got it back to 2-2, they got a good draw at Sunderland and also beat Aston Villa. So am I pleased with three points? Certainly, because West Ham are not in bad form.

“It’s been a tough period, probably too many games for the same group of players to be playing in.

“I thought they showed great character to hang in there at the end of what has been a very difficult period. It was a much-needed win.”

Moyes added: “I think Everton over the last couple of seasons have played good football and been up at the top and good to watch.

“This was more like the Everton in the two seasons prior to that. We were resilient, hard to beat. Over the years we have shown better quality, but at the moment we are lacking a bit of quality in the side.

“We need to get back to winning, the key is getting the winning formula and we found it today.”