David Moyes has revealed he received a good-luck message from Prime Minister Andy Burnham before Everton marked their first Premier League home game of the season with an important victory over Crystal Palace.
Burnham was in attendance at the Hill Dickinson Stadium as he watched his first top-flight fixture since taking the country's top job.
And the Prime Minister was able to celebrate an Everton victory after goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry secured the points for Moyes' side.
The Everton manager revealed afterwards that former Toffees striker Andy Gray had visited him before kick-off, while club legend Peter Reid was sitting alongside Burnham in the directors' box.
That connection enabled Moyes and Burnham to speak before the action began, with the Prime Minister wishing the Scot luck.
The encouragement ultimately proved well placed, although Everton endured several scares during an entertaining opening period.
Crystal Palace created the better clear-cut opportunities early on, with Jean-Philippe Mateta flicking over from close range before later striking the post.
Eddie Nketiah was also denied by an outstanding Jordan Pickford save as the visitors threatened to punish Everton.
Instead, Dewsbury-Hall changed the complexion of the contest shortly before the interval with a fierce finish to give the hosts the advantage.
Barry then doubled Everton's lead before the hour mark, heading home an Iliman Ndiaye cross as Moyes' men took control.
Reflecting on the victory, Moyes admitted Palace had caused his side problems on the counter-attack.
"I thought it was a good performance for lots of the game," he said.
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"We didn't do well enough on the transition in the first half, we should have got lots more chances from what we did.
"Obviously, the goalkeeper [Pickford] makes a great save. It looks like the centre forward [Mateta] should have probably scored with the one that hits the post, I think."
Moyes was particularly impressed by Dewsbury-Hall's breakthrough, adding: "His goal was very good - it's a good start for him."
There was also encouragement for the Everton boss from several of the younger members of his squad.
Harrison Armstrong, Hayden Hackney, Tyrique George and Merlin Rohl all earned praise from Moyes following their contributions.
"I thought Hayden's performance was good. I thought Harrison performed well. I thought Merlin performed well," he said.
"So I think a lot of the ones who are relatively new to the team and the ones who I'm probably expecting to take a bit of time to settle, breaking them into the Premier League in some cases."
Having enjoyed an impressive record on the road last season, Moyes believes improving Everton's results at home could be crucial to their ambitions this time around.
"Our points total away from home last year was fantastic and if we reach that again this season, we'll be in another really good position," he said.
"We just need to make sure that our home form is a bit more regular, if we can, and get a few more wins here. So to win today was really big for us."
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