Everton manager David Moyes hailed his high-flying side for claiming an important victory over Stoke but insisted they still remain “big underdogs” in the battle for the Champions League spots.

Kevin Mirallas’s fine individual goal in the first half settled the game as Everton eased past struggling Stoke 1-0 at Goodison Park.

The victory consolidates Everton’s sixth place in the Premier League, keeping them two points behind Arsenal in fifth and four behind Chelsea in fourth. Moyes is pleased to see his side being talked about as a possible Champions League contender but admits they have a lot to do yet.

He told ESPN: “We’re the big underdogs, we need results to go for us as well as for us to win our games. But we’ve got them to play (teams above) and they’ve got us to play as well, so we’re in there and it’s great thing to say we’re actually having a chance to get into the Champions League.

“That’s good for us, we deserve to be there for the way we’ve played this season.”

He added: “There are all important at this time of the season. We’ve not got a great record against Stoke recently but it was important to got those three points.”

Belgium international Miralles netted the winner in the 28th minute following an electrifyingly quick counter-attack which left defenders trailing in his wake.

Moyes said: “That was a great goal and I think sometimes you need individual players to win you the game when you play Stoke, because they are really well organised and are hard to break down.”