David Unsworth praises teenage Everton duo following full debuts
Everton Under-23s manager David Unsworth has hailed teenage duo Lewis Warrington and Charlie Whitaker following the recent 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.
Both players made their full Under-23s debuts against the Lancashire outfit, having previously featured heavily in Everton’s Under-18s side this season.
Unsworth had named the duo in the starting line-up when his side faced Rovers earlier this month, with both players impressing in the Toffees’ win.
Talking to the Liverpool Echo, Unsworth was full of praise for the duo, the latter of which was previously said to have been on Marcel Brands’ watchlist at Everton.
Unsworth said: “Lewis Warrington and Charlie Whitaker making their full debuts was terrific.
“They’ve both been outstanding in the Under-18s and we wanted to give them an opportunity because we’ve had that many players injured and unavailable, we have had a really small squad.
“But I thought they were terrific and I’m very, very proud of them.”
Positive growth
Everton have a fantastic record of developing young talent over the past decade, and the praise of Warrington, in particular, could suggest they have another talent on their hands.
The midfielder has trained with Carlo Ancelotti’s first-team squad this season and had previously been earmarked as someone with potential by Brands, indicating that the club have long known that he possesses quality.
Unsworth has done an excellent job since he succeeded Alan Stubbs as Under-23s manager and it’s great to see that he has cultivated such a top-class working relationship with both Brands and Ancelotti.
With Everton having suffered so many injuries this season, young players were always likely to get their chance to impress and we saw that through the debut appearances of both Tyler Onyango and Thierry Small.
Those two players will serve as proof that breaking into the first-team can be done and that Everton care enough about their academy to award progress and performance.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have already caused some damage on one of the ESL breakaway clubs.
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