Everton: Jeff Stelling wowed by Tom Cannon footage on Sky Sports as Preston loanee leaves Toffees fans scratching their heads
Tom Cannon took his goal for Preston against Blackpool “absolutely delightfully” to leave Everton fans “scratching their heads” according to Jeff Stelling.
The Toffees loanee is proving to be a real hit of late at Deepdale, having scored four Championship goals in his last six appearances as he netted in the 3-1 win on Saturday, rolling a casual finish into the far corner to put his side 3-0 up in the 51st minute.
Stelling was highly impressed by footage of the strike while live on Sky Sports and believes Toffees supporters, so thankful for the impact of fellow striker Ellis Simms after returning from his loan in the second tier, will be wondering how Cannon could be helpful in the top flight relegation battle.
Reacting to footage of Cannon sliding Preston’s third home against their rivals Stelling said live on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (1 April, 1.43pm): “A few Everton fans are sitting at home scratching their heads because Cannon has gone on loan to Preston, he’s got three in his last four, and he took that absolutely delightfully, didn’t he?
“Preston are out of sight, they lead by three goals to nil.”
In time
Simms’ elevation to the first team seemed somewhat belated when it was quite plain that Everton were heading into this season under strength, and while his first goal for the club at Chelsea on 18 March is unlikely to open the floodgates for the 22-year-old, it was an important contribution.
Sean Dyche needs all the help he can get up front, just as Frank Lampard did before him, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury luck so appalling.
But Simms was sent to Sunderland at the start of the season anyway, and then just after breaking into Premier League contention with a pair of substitute appearances under the former manager Cannon was dispatched to Deepdale.
In fairness to the club, he is two years Simms’ junior and prior to his sudden purple patch he had gone eight games in all competitions for Preston without a goal, so sending him out and bringing the older man back was probably right by that time.
But he has now netted in their last four wins, also chipping in an assist along the way, so there is perhaps scope for him to be part of the answer back at Goodison Park next season.
Neither were obviously the finished article at the start of the year and in an ideal world would have had more first-team experience in a lower division, but it is a bold strategy for a club to send goal-scorers out on loan when they were so desperately in need help themselves.