Alex Neil saluted his EFL Cup match-winners Steven Naismith and Josh Murphy after knocking Premier League Everton out of the competition in Tuesday's 2-0 win at Goodison Park.

Naismith came back in from the cold against his old club to open the scoring before Murphy crashed an unstoppable shot past Maarten Stekelenburg to book the Canaries place in Wednesday's fourth round draw.

'I said to Josh at half-time there was quite a few times he had dwelt on the ball and he was thinking about what he was trying to do when he got it,' said Neil. 'I just told, 'In this second half you just go and play your game. Work when you don't have the ball and when you do, go and do your thing.' His thing turned out to be sticking the ball in the top corner.

'Both him and his brother are match-winners. People maybe criticise them when they make a bad decision but they are young players and what you can't dispute is that they can change a game. They can do things other players can't do. It will be great for his confidence. He has been involved and come on. He is definitely a talent. No question.'

Naismith's third strike for the club triggered a warm reception from the Toffees' supporters.

'It speaks volumes of Steven as a lad because not every player who goes back to a former club gets that, they normally get booed or get stick,' said Neil. 'They clearly hold him in high regard. He is a really good lad, who works extremely hard and he is honest. It was a great touch for him to get that reception. We had a whole bunch of players who needed an opportunity. We needed to freshen the squad up and I thought Steven like the rest applied themselves.'

Neil admitted Norwich had to ride their luck at times.

'The players who came in applied themselves extremely well,' he said. 'We had a certain manner that we felt would give us the best chance to win the game. We sat behind the ball and tried to make it difficult for them. We tried to hit on the counter and we managed to score two. It was a great performance because a lot of these have not played much football. There might have been some luck about the first goal but I am sure Everton would not have cared if it had been the other way around. If he hits it cleanly he has a straight shot at goal. The second one was hit cleanly though so it didn't make any difference.

'You can debate who was the better team. There have been numerous occasions when we have had a lot of the ball and not won the game. All our fans want to see us do is win. Were we the better team? We won the game.'