Everton manager David Moyes has hailed the impact of central defensive duo Joseph Yobo and Sylvain Distin ahead of the Europa League match against BATE Borisov tonight.

There were fears the club might suffer after Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka split up for different reasons.

While Lescott moved to Manchester City, Jagielka was confined to the treatment room with injury.

Everton redressed some of the balance by signing Distin from Portsmouth and return to European action on a run of clean sheets extending to 371 minutes.

Asked if he thought he would miss Lescott more than he has, Moyes said: "It wasn't just Joleon, I thought we would miss Jagielka as well because they were our two centre-halves for most of last season.

"So when you look at it now, Distin and Yobo are a brand-new partnership in the centre of our defence. So, would I have expected them to click straight away? Probably not.

"Hopefully, the more games they play together the more understanding they will get and hopefully they will improve.

"Sylvain has settled in very well and he would admit to the fact he has found it quite easy to join in.

"He was the one who I hoped, when he arrived, would come in and settle without it being too big an upheaval.

"Every clean sheet is an achievement because it gives you a chance of winning. It is something we have been very good at over the years."

Yobo added: "Sylvain is a quality player and very experienced. He is now settling down and that is helping us.

"We already have a good understanding and keeping clean sheets is building our confidence.

Hopefully we will keep growing together."

Moyes is looking to build on the comfortable victory over AEK Athens at the start of the group stages.

However he will be without nine first-team members at the Dinamo Stadium.

BATE lost to Benfica last time out but Moyes believes their record in the Champions League last season deserves respect.

They upset the odds to reach the group stages where they managed to draw twice against Juventus as well as finishing all square with Zenit St Petersburg.

Moyes said: "We would like to get something from the game but I can't stress enough how much a really tough match this is for us.

"If anyone is coming here thinking 'BATE who?' then they are in for a big shock.

"We watched them against Benfica and they are a decent side with a lot of energy. They are very good going forward and can cause problems.

"The priority is to try and win the group. I see Benfica and BATE as our main threats."

Meanwhile BATE Borisov coach Viktor Goncharenko believes midfielder Sergei Krivets would have been a better option for Everton than Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

The Russian is expected to play some part in the game after arriving from Lokomotiv Moscow in the transfer window.

Goncharenko commented: "Krivets is a more interesting player than Bilyaletdinov in my opinion."