Roberto Martinez praised his Everton side for their temperament as they fought back from a goal down to beat West Ham 2-1 at Upton Park.
Stewart Downing's strike for the hosts was cancelled out by Leon Osman, before Romelu Lukaku extended his remarkable record of six goals in six games for Everton against the Hammers with a stoppage-time header.
The result sees the Toffees climb to 10th in what has been a difficult campaign for the Merseyside club, and Martinez believes his side showed strong character to claim three points.
"I'm very pleased," he told the club's official website. "I don't think we were lucky winning at the end. I think our performance over the 90 minutes deserved the win.
"Before West Ham took the lead, we were creating the better chances and waiting for the ball to hit the back of the net. I thought we played really well in that respect.
"When the home team scores that first goal, it becomes a very different exercise.
"But mentally we were superb and controlled the moment well. We wanted to get the equaliser and once Leon did, the team wanted to go on and win it.
"They never stopped, we were very good in possession, in creating chances and we defended in a fantastic manner.
"It's that desire of wanting to win for Everton and to have high standards that pleased me today. That's going to be the core of what we want to build on next season."
The Toffees boss praised 19-year-old debutant Brendan Galloway for an impressive display as he deputised at left-back for the injured Leighton Baines, adding: "It was a big moment in his career that he coped with in a magnificent manner.
"I thought Brendan was always cool, composed and had an incredible confidence.
"As a footballer, we know he is an athletic left-back with good defensive qualities and I think he showed that.
"It was very Everton today; performing with young players coming in and a great mixture with players with old heads and players sharing great desire, character and wanting to win."