Sam Allardyce heaps praise on Everton striker Oumar Niasse

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Everton striker Oumar Niasse scored against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Everton manager Sam Allardyce has told the club’s official website that Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun will have to be patient behind Oumar Niasse.

The Toffees beat Crystal Palace 3-1 at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, as Gylfi Sigurdsson, Oumar Niasse and Tom Davies all found the net for Allardyce’s men.

After a 5-1 thrashing at Arsenal, such a positive performance was needed, and Allardyce will be particularly pleased that striker Niasse got on the scoresheet.

The Senegal international was cast aside by Ronald Koeman last season, and only used by the Dutchman earlier this term when he was absolutely desperate, having failed to replace Ronald Koeman.

Despite his setbacks under Koeman, Niasse hasn’t kicked up a fuss and has continued to work hard and take his chances when they have come, now boasting an impressive record this season.

Niasse, 27, now has seven goals in 15 Premier League outings, and comments from manager Allardyce seem to suggest that he is Everton’s first-choice striker for the foreseeable future.

Allardyce has told the club’s official website that he felt Niasse was impressive against Palace as he not only scored, but also worked hard and held the ball up well in the final third.

Allardyce added that Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun now need to be patient as they sit behind Niasse, with Allardyce putting his backing behind a player Koeman had absolutely no plans for.

“The one thing he did, that he should have done against Leicester, was score,” said Allardyce. “It was a very good header at an important time. It helped us and, as a team, we now have to keep that [home form] up. The one thing we need to get better is the away results.”

“His hold-up play, and his work-rate was good. He’s got competition – obviously Cenk’s very disappointed that he’s not playing – but when somebody up front is doing the job as well as he can and making an impression on the team, then Dominic and Cenk have to be a little bit more patient,” he added.