Joe Montemurro praised Arsenal's reaction after they beat Everton 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at Meadow Park.

Jordan Nobbs, Caitlin Foord, Jennifer Beattie and Beth Mead scored the goals for the home side as they brushed away the Merseyside club.

After losing to Manchester City last week Montemurro said: "The mood has been excellent, we were pegged back in the second half last week but apart from a couple of moments we know we were close to getting a point at a very difficult place to go.

"We analysed that game and looked at ourselves and looked at the situation and training this week was brilliant."

The Gunners exploited Everton's weaknesses well especially down the left and on that he added: "We felt with a midfield diamond they would be quite narrow centrally as soon as we got the first pass and they came out with a high line we thought their left-back would get drawn in-field towards one of our 10s and we found space on that side.

"It was something we prepared because it was one of the outlets we thought we could really exploit."

Vivianne Miedema didn't start the game as Foord started down the middle. and Montemurro said: "It’s not about making statements. We have a squad that understands the way we want to play and having a squad that means we can make certain tactical adjustments

"We’ve lacked that in a lot of games when we’ve had a lot of injuries. That can make the options from the bench and the option to shuffle things tactically difficult.

"The injuries are no excuse they happen but the reality is we built this squad so that everyone has a chance to contribute and everyone has a chance to advance and score goals and be proactive and today was a really good sign of that."

The Gunners victory means they are second in the table behind Manchester United halfway through the season and on this the Australian said: "We can only look at the next game would I have liked and extra couple of points? Yes I would have loved them.

"It's a great league to be a part of, a great competition and all teams can take points of one another."

Lisa Evans and Katie McCabe played at full-back against the Toffees.

"Obviously for the way we want to play they are very important both defensively and offensively.

"It’s just really good to have them both It’s good to have Lisa involved and good timing to get her back in full swing both of them were very good in the game."

Jordan Nobbs returned to the team after injury and played in a wide role scoring the first goal, and asked about her display he said: "That’s just part of the whole picture of the squad. Every player has different qualities and brings different things to the team.

"There are many games like this where Jordan is outstanding. Part of the job of managing a squad is finding the best team for the task at hand. That’s why we have to make sure it’s about the 20 players not just 11.

"Jordan has been exceptional in training and she’s been exceptional at everything she’s done and I am so proud of her.

"We just gave her a little more time to give her that start because she has been coming back from an injury that is a little bit annoying."

The Women's Super League is now taking a three week break but the overseas players will not be allowed to return home due to the coronavirus restrictions.

"It’s a tough one we’re only following government guidelines, that’s all we can do.

"We really can’t do any more. There’s no exemptions for sportsmen and women there’s no exemptions for our situation so we just have to follow government guidelines, that’s all we can do we’re all in the same boat."

On whether the travel bans caused problems to the mood of the team before the game with Everton, he said: "We discussed it before the game because there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of uncertainty.

"All of us were looking forward to spending four or five days with our families and obviously when you haven’t seen them for a while and you want to get back it’s difficult, but we have to be professional in the way we go about things and there is still some work to be done.

"We all buckled in and made sure we got the job done."

The boss also revealed what he told his player after the full-time whistle.

"I wished them a merry Christmas It’s been a difficult year for everybody and not just from a footballing sense but from a life perspective and we’ve all had different levels of anxieties and restrictions so I wanted to wish them all the best and to thank for them for putting up with me because I am difficult to work with and to look forward to what we think is going to be a really exciting second half of the season."