Unsworth looking for final day boost after "difficult" week for Everton

David Unsworth has challenged his players and the fans to end a disappointing campaign on a high against Norwich on Sunday.

U21 coach Unsworth is to take charge of the senior side along with former Toffees manager Joe Royle following the departure of Roberto Martinez on Thursday.

The former Everton defender couldn't hide his delight at being asked to manage his boyhood club, though he conceded it was not in the most ideal of circumstances.

"It was a difficult day yesterday for everybody at the football club.

"I’ve been involved in football forever and it’s never an easy day. A good man has lost his job and that’s always difficult. But that’s football management, and it’s always a difficult time."

"It was the proudest moment of my life yesterday when I got the call. It was difficult because Roberto was the man who brought me back to this club with the Under-21s, and then when Alan Stubbs left he was first on the phone to offer me the job.

"I’ve got nothing but great words to say to Roberto and he’s a top guy. The chairman phoned me and asked me to come in. We had a chat, but I said I wanted to speak to Roberto before anything, and typical of him, it was actually Roberto who had put my name into the hat."

Switching attention to Sunday's game against Norwich, Unsworth admitted that the players owed the fans a performance after a horrendous run that has yielded just one win in 10 games.

He also hopes that with Martinez gone, the supporters can channel their efforts into getting behind the team rather than protesting against the manager.

"I think there will be a change of mood with the fans on Sunday. It’s not been an easy place to play recently. We owe them a performance on Sunday and we owe them a win, and the way we play we will try to get them up and get them behind us.

"We worked on a couple of things and we will pick a team to win the game. We want the performance but we want a win as well. That is vital."