The Toffees know they have a lot of work to do to avoid relegation and move up the table.
However, Tarkowski believes battling for 0-0 draws, as they did against West Ham, makes for a good foundation.
“I said early season that it was very, very poor the way we're defending – me personally and as a unit and as a team,” Tarkowski told evertontv, speaking after the game.
“But we've got back to the sort of level that we expect. Jordan made a couple of big saves today, but we defended well and felt comfortable for most of the game as we have done a lot recently in other games.
“So, we can be pleased with that and, as I say, it's always a platform to build from. If you're defending well and keep clean sheets, you'll always get an opportunity to score goals and hopefully in this Christmas period coming up with the games thick and fast, we can start to do that.”