Everton boss Marco Silva described the way his side's Carabao Cup tie against Watford played out as "fair" after they secured a quarter-final spot with a 2-0 win on Tuesday night.

Mason Holgate scored a 72nd-minute header at Goodison Park and ex-Hornet Richarlison wrapped things up with a stoppage-time strike.

After a lacklustre first half to the contest, Everton went close a number of times prior to Holgate notching the opener, with efforts from Alex Iwobi and Lucas Digne hitting the woodwork.

The win came three days on from a 3-2 Premier League defeat at Brighton that left Silva questioning VAR after a contentious late penalty was awarded against his team.

Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores, whose side are bottom of the Premier League and have now failed to score in four of their last five games, said: "We know this is a tough match, away against the fans and a tough team with very good players.

"I think we were looking well for a long period during the match – good shape, defending well. In the second half it's normal they push a little bit more hard to try to score. But I think our limitations come from bad decisions in last third.

"In the last third I think we have (the) quality to make things much better."

Both sides were forced into first-half substitutions, and Silva – who made five changes to his starting line-up – said Yerry Mina's chances of featuring in Sunday's clash with Tottenham were unclear after the defender came off with a knee issue.

Meanwhile, Watford, whose side featured eight changes, will assess an injury sustained by midfielder Domingos Quina.