Vitor Pereira happy to have the smiles back as Wolves beat Everton | OneFootball

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira admits he missed seeing smiles on the faces of his players and the club’s fans after his side put aside their poor Premier League form to beat Everton 2-0 in the Carabao Cup third round.

Pereira’s team have lost all five of their league games this season, but Marshall Munetsi’s 29th-minute goal and Tolu Arokodare’s late strike earned them a second victory in this season’s cup competition and booked their place in the fourth-round draw.

Wanderers had previously failed to keep a clean sheet this season but kept out an Everton side that threw on Jack Grealish, Beto, Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in search of an equaliser in the second half.

Pereira said: “(I’m) happy because the team showed the best first half this season.

“In the second half we were trying to defend well. Happy for my players because I missed the smile, going in the dressing room seeing the smile, and the smile of the supporters.

“This group work a lot and want to be in the better level, just missing the results because the players have quality and character.

“Of course (they can go higher). With two or three good results we can play in another level.

“First clean sheet. We spoke a lot about this last season, when we didn’t concede goals we usually won the games. We cannot concede easy goals with easy mistakes.

“We need to be consistent and increase our level and play with confidence. For the players, the time for adaptation has finished, it’s time to perform and help the team.

“I want to see a team with character, press when we get the chance and compete for the three points.”

Moyes rotated his starting XI and while his side improved in the second period after he brought on a number of first-choice players, they conceded a second goal in the 88th minute as their hopes of a deep run came to an end.

Everton boss Moyes said: “We played another Premier League team so I don’t think you can say it’s a missed opportunity but we are disappointed.

“It was a 0-0 game in the first half but we gave away a diabolical goal. They scored against the run of play. I thought we dominated most of the second half but couldn’t find a way of getting a goal.

“The players introduced (off the bench) made a huge difference. We want everyone to play at that level. We didn’t play at that level in the first half but I don’t think Wolves did either.”