Ready For The Next Challenge

Tom Davies is back at Goodison with David Unsworth as his boss. The 19-year-old has come a long way since being given his full debut by the former Blues defender in May 2016 – but knows there’s plenty of hard graft ahead for him and his boyhood club

- Adam Clark

“It is always difficult for me to single out players. I don’t like doing it, I’ve not done it a great deal… but it was an awesome performance.

“He is a proper Everton central midfielder; you just look at him and know he’s an Everton player. He’s all-action and doesn’t just do one thing - he can go box-to-box, he can screen, he can tackle, he can pass the ball, he can get in the box and score goals… there’s no end to where this lad can go.

“He’s also a cool dude, the one who plays the music in the changing rooms. And his music taste is horrendous, so he’s not shy when it comes to things like that!”

Tom Davies has come a long way since David Unsworth offered this enthusiastic assessment of the midfielder following a man of the match display on his full Everton debut back in May 2016.

It had come in a 3-0 home victory over Norwich City for which Unsworth was, as he finds himself at the time of writing, in caretaker charge of the Blues.

Like towards the end of that 2015/16 season when it was Roberto Martinez who departed, these have been gloomy times around Goodison Park, and that prompted Unsworth’s graduation into the dugout late last month in place of Ronald Koeman.

The clouds parted just wide enough to reveal some welcome rays of encouragement as Chelsea had to weather a much-improved performance from the Toffees before securing their Carabao Cup progress 12 days ago, only for that to be followed by another overcast afternoon at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium last Sunday.

A Scouser who watched on from the stands as a youngster dreaming he would one day be out on the pitch, directly influencing his club’s fortunes, Davies feels it as much as anyone. He understands.