James Garner, who spent time on loan at Forest earlier in his career, scored one and set up another for the depleted Toffees, who were without a number of first-team regulars.

Garner scored Everton's opener in the 19th minute, drilling home after getting onto Dwight McNeil's fine pass.

Everton remained defensively resolute, with James Tarowski and Jake O'Brien dealing with a siege of Forest crosses. The host's pressure built in the second half, though a miss from Igor Jesus was the closest it came before the Toffees doubled their advantage.

Not long after Tarkowski had headed wide from close range, Garner turned away from his marker and slotted a neat ball through to Thierno Barry, who scored his second Everton goal, with both of those having come against Forest.

Morgan Gibbs-White and Dilane Bakwa went close for Forest late on, but Sean Dyche's team now finds itself four points off the bottom three.