The defeat was Brighton's heaviest in the Premier League since 2020 as the Toffees scored five top-flight goals away from home for the first time since 2018.

Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "It feels like a decisive, defining result doesn’t it?

"It’s so tight at the bottom because they have all been so poor. Until that game the bottom sides had played 33 games between them and won three.

"To win a game that I suspect nobody thought they would win given Brighton’s form, and to win it like that will be so important for morale, for their own confidence going into the final three fixtures.

"You feel that is not safe, but it could be a hammer blow to everyone else."

Former Premier League defender Sebastien Bassong added: "Most of the time we are looking at the team after not having a great game, but I want to really put some emphasis on the performance.

"From the back to the top they were on their A-game and were on top of it. The changes that Sean Dyche made really paid off. They brought more energy.

"When you win your battles and you have confidence after the previous result, it’s only a matter of time before you put out some sort of performance like they did. I’m really happy about the whole performance.

"As a fan or an expert of the game, that’s the kind of game you want to watch."