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• Sean Dyche planning major changes at Everton after avoiding relegation

  Everton manager Sean Dyche will allow his players to briefly enjoy their escape from relegation but he has already laid down the law that major changes are needed at the club.

  Abdoulaye Doucoure’s 57th-minute thunderbolt gave the Toffees a 1-0 win over Bournemouth and the victory which ensured they stayed up and extended their stay in the top flight to 70 successive seasons.

  For the second consecutive season there was a pitch invasion at the final whistle – although nowhere near as many numbers joined in as 12 months ago when safety was secured with a game to spare.

  There was a feeling inside the club that they did not want to be seen to be celebrating avoiding failure and that probably came from Dyche himself.

  “It’s a horrible day for all concerned, there is no joy in it for me other than getting the job done,” said the former Burnley boss, who only took over in late January.

  “I came in here to change a mentality and I think there have been signs of that. There is still more to go.

  “I said to the the players ‘We shouldn’t be here. Enjoy this today and you’ve earned it but at the end of the day it has got to change’.

  “There is no point in sitting on it and saying ‘Look how great we are’ because it is not like that.

  “There is loads to change here and a lot of work to be done but it was a big step to secure it.”

  Dyche was able to speak from a greater position of strength after avoiding what would have been only the club’s third relegation in their 145-year history.

  That gave him the confidence to dish out some home truths in his post-match press conference which he had been reticent to do so previously for fear of creating more instability and detracting from the task in hand.

  “Don’t think I thought this was an easy fix because it is not, far from it,” he added.

  “It’s a big club, make no mistake. Big history, big club, but we are not performing like a big club. We have to find a way of changing that. This is two seasons now.

  “I’ve played my little part in two seasons of this but there is a massive amount of change to build to a new dawn, a new future, a bigger future if you like.”

  That future is likely to see him make significant changes to a totally unbalanced squad which somehow avoided relegation despite playing the whole season with their main striker – Dominic Calvert-Lewin – featuring in less than half of it and his back-up – Neal Maupay – managing just one goal (in September) in 29 appearances.

  Asked if he would have to sell players, with the club having made more than £430m of losses in the last four years, Dyche added: “There’s a chance. I’ll find out about that.

  “There’s not been any depth, there have been peripheral talks based on ifs, buts and maybes but that will come over the coming weeks when we find out the truth of what we have got, what we can do, what we can’t do.

  “We had to get this (safety) sorted out, we’ve got it over the line. It was absolutely the key focus. Now it is time to immediately re-focus on the rest of it.”

  Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil was disappointed not to have got something from the game.

  “I thought we were the better side and had control for the most part but there is still a lot to progress on,” he said.

  “We knew we were coming into a tough atmosphere against a direct team and I thought the lads stood up to it well. We maybe didn’t create enough.

  “We maybe got a little too desperate towards the end but there was a lot there I liked. It’s just a shame we didn’t score, I always thought we would get one.”

• Erik ten Hag backs Man Utd to win FA Cup and end neighbours City’s treble charge

  Erik ten Hag told the raucous Old Trafford faithful that Manchester United have a “really good chance” of winning the FA Cup and ending Manchester City’s treble charge.

  Having wrapped up Champions League qualification by beating Chelsea on Thursday, the Red Devils sealed third spot in the Premier League on the final day of the campaign.

  United bounced back from Kenny Tete’s early header as David De Gea saved Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty before Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes sealed a 2-1 comeback win against Fulham.

  The players were given a fantastic reception at full-time and, after presenting De Gea with the Golden Glove trophy, boss Ten Hag made an impassioned speech to fans.

  “First of all, I want to say thank you to our players,” he told the stadium. “I think they played a brilliant season.

  “They are also supported by the staff. I want to say thank you to the staff.

  “Secondly, I want to thank you (the fans) all. We fought really strong during the season at Old Trafford and away.

  “I want to thank you for the season and your contribution backing us, for the support – it was great, so thank you.

  “But there is still one game to go and I am sure that these players will give everything to beat Manchester City next week.

  “If you have our back, I’m sure we have a really good chance to take the cup back to Old Trafford.”

  Those comments were met by a huge roar that will increase further still if Ten Hag’s men can beat City at Wembley next Saturday and add the FA Cup to February’s Carabao Cup success.

  “You have always a chance in football,” Ten Hag said in the post-match press conference.

  “The history shows we beat them in January but I think Man United in the last couple of years beat City many times.

  “So, these players know when they play at their levels that they can compete.

  “It’s obvious we play against probably – at this moment – the best team, but still there is a chance and we have to go for the chance and we have to give everything.

  “We can’t be after the game finding excuses for ourselves. I’m sure we will play a good game on Saturday.”

  Ten Hag knows United have to step up after making a sloppy start against Fulham, saying De Gea’s penalty save woke them up.

  The United boss again reiterated that he expected the long-serving Spain goalkeeper to extend his contract beyond the end of the season, before seemingly taking a dig at the owners’ backing.

  Fans called for the Glazers to leave throughout – as they always do – and Ten Hag said he did not get investment like their top-four rivals in January.

  The United boss, who was only able to make loan moves for Jack Butland, Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer, said: “The club knows if you want to play top four, compete for trophies in this tough league, then you have to invest.

  “Otherwise you don’t have a chance because other clubs will do.

  “We have seen it in the winter that all the clubs around us made huge investments. We didn’t and still we made it, so I’m really happy and proud of my team.”

  As for Fulham, they displayed heart at Old Trafford at the end of an impressive season that saw them finish 10th after promotion from the Championship.

  Head coach Marco Silva said: “We had very good moments during the game.

  “Unfortunately for us, not really consistent during all the match but the way we started we were beginning to control the game.

  “We were leading the score and I think it was well deserved because we showed the composure and quality to play, to control most of the moments.

  “Of course we had the chance to make it 2-0 and give us even more confidence and create a much-more difficult score for them.

  “De Gea saved and of course it was a moment that boosted them. You could feel is straight away in the stadium.

  “These are the moments we have to show our maturity, to show more consistency.”

• Liverpool will be Premier League contenders again next season – Jurgen Klopp

  Jurgen Klopp insists Liverpool will be Premier League contenders next season after ending an underwhelming campaign with a thrilling 4-4 draw at relegated Southampton.

  The fifth-placed Reds arrived at St Mary’s knowing they had already missed out on a top-four finish for the first time since 2015-16.

  Early goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino appeared to have put the in-form visitors on course for a straightforward success on the south coast.

  But they were forced to come from 4-2 behind to stretch their unbeaten run to 11 games following Kamaldeen Sulemana’s brace and strikes from James Ward-Prowse and Adam Armstrong.

  Liverpool boss Klopp, whose side avoided defeat thanks to a goal from substitute Cody Gakpo and Jota’s second, was happy to see the back of 2022-23 and confident next term would be far more memorable.

  “There were moments during the season when you thought ‘the season will be four years long’,” he said.

  “Thank God for the last 11 games, that helped massively, gave us a real boost, gave us a perspective, gave us a basis for what we have to do.

  “That it didn’t turn into the best ever season, we see that, we know that, we are very disappointed about the fact that we didn’t make it to the top four.

  “But there are moments when you have to admit there were four teams that were better than us – that’s the truth.

  “We played a bad season, we come fifth, that is a message as well.

  “Imagine we were our normal self, which we absolutely will be again next season and will be a contender again. That’s how is it. The last 11 games helped us to realise that again.”

  Gakpo and Jota struck in the 72nd and 73rd minutes respectively to prevent Liverpool slipping to a shock defeat, while Mohamed Salah hit a post late on.

  Klopp felt his players contributed to their own undoing during a “silly” period of a chaotic contest.

  “We are 2-0 up and you know these Southampton players want to pay back to these people (home fans) and we let them, just opened the door for a really talented offensive team, with the speed they have,” he said.

  “I can make a list of things we weren’t and that led to the counter attacks they had.

  “Then it’s 2-2 and 4-2 and then we started doing the right things again. I think we could have scored a fifth and a sixth.

  “Top start, outstanding finish, in between just silly.”