"It is no surprise at all for me," Bernard, who arrived on a free transfer after leaving Shakhtar Donetsk, told evertontv when asked if he was surprised how quickly a much-changed side was coming together in Silva's image.

"This is a dedicated group of players that listens to the manager and puts into practice what he asks for on the field.

"They are great players and it is quite easy when you have intelligent players like these, all constantly looking to improve and put into practice Marco Silva's instructions."

Regarding his work in combination down the left side with full-back Digne, the 26-year-old Brazilian added: "We are developing a strong understanding, without a doubt.

"Lucas is a really intelligent player. He loves playing with the ball at his feet and we have been looking to combine since we started playing together.

"We are on the same wavelength, so he knows where to play the ball and where to pass.

"It is important to have players like him and our understanding will only get better.

"I am adapting to the Premier League and dedicating myself to improving, so I can continue to progress and impose myself on matches."

Bernard was speaking ahead of Monday's clash with Silva's old club Watford at Goodison Park.

Everton head into the contest having lost only two of their last nine league games and won five times in that sequence.

Their home league record this term shows four wins and one defeat – which came back in September – from eight matches.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '05e82253-f202-4cf6-9da8-53a6ad43b106');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Everton progress no surprise to Bernard'});