FIRE fighting

BETO PENALTY CAN'T MASK NEED FOR FORWARD POWER

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

IT took a late penalty from substitute Beto to spare Everton from defeat in their opening preseason friendly of the summer at Accrington Stanley.

But while David Moyes named a side that was close to being the strongest available to him at the time, his starting lineup was still missing a crucial element.

With the likes of Jordan Pickford, James Tarkowski, Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye, plus new signing Thierno Barry, all yet to return, the cavalry remains on the horizon for the Blues.

But Moyes still picked an XI at the Wham Stadium that had cost the club more than £116million in the transfer market to face their League Two opponents.

Although he was actually the most expensive acquisition among that group having cost Everton £25m back in their big-spending summer of 2017, Michael Keane was not brought to Merseyside for his scoring prowess.