Everton selection process explained as honest verdict shared on Roman Dixon development

Everton Under-21s manager Paul Tait doesn’t want to get carried away over Harrison Armstrong’s progress, but he believes there’s still “loads to come” from the Blues’ latest home-grown hero as he hailed the benefits of getting senior pros to join his side. Armstrong, 17, was named on the substitutes bench for Everton’s opening Premier League fixture of the campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion after enjoying a promising pre-season with the first team, netting in a 6-0 behind closed doors victory against Scottish Premiership side Motherwell at Goodison Park.

The midfielder, who lives in West Derby and cites Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham as his idols, has been with Everton since he was just five years old and is hoping to become the next Scouse star to progress through the academy ranks after the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ross Barkley, Michael Ball, Francis Jeffers, Tony Hibbert, Tom Davies, Tony Grant and Anthony Gordon throughout the Premier League era. Speaking after the 3-1 win over Tranmere Rovers in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy at Prenton Park, Tait cautioned about going overboard in terms of the youngster’s progress but as first team boss Sean Dyche has already said about Harrison’s development: “Your eyes don’t lie.”

Tait said: “We had some really good situations in the first half that we didn’t make the most of and our final actions in the final third weren’t good enough. We spoke about that at half-time and we spoke about our press as we were giving their centre-halves too much time on the ball so we pressed them better in the second half.

“I thought the two lads in midfield dominated in the second half, Jenson (Metcalfe) and Harrison (Armstrong), I thought they showed some real potential of what they are and what we think they are. When we did get in the final third, the final actions were better and it took until the 86th minute to get that final action but in the end, three of them came along.

“Harrison has had a good pre-season. He came into our team last season as a first-year scholar and did well.

“I’d known about him for a while. We know about him in the academy that he’s a talented lad and I’d say he’s had a good pre-season with the first team, I wouldn’t go over the top.

“He’s a really good lad, he’s learning all the time and he’s getting better. He’s had a good pre-season and he carried that into the game here.

“Look, he’s trained with the first team from day one of pre-season so he’s been up against them so the physical aspect doesn’t bother him. He’s a good athlete now but I think you can see he’s going to be a really good athlete as he’s got loads to come as he’s not fully developed or anywhere near yet physically so we’ve just got to wait for that side of his game.”

Tait was also pleased with the display of another teenager, Roman Dixon who is in the spotlight given Everton’s lack of right-back options for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur with Ashley Young suspended and Dyche claiming Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson and James Garner are all unlikely to be fit. He said: “Roman showed some flashes of his pace. When you’ve got pace like that, it’s standout.

“He’s still got some little bits around the edges with his defending and his understanding. Obviously, he’s a young player and that gets better with time and better with appearances, but I thought he turned out another good performance.”

Although Everton trailed until late on, a brace from Beto put them ahead before substitute Martin Sherif nudged another goal-bound effort from the Portuguese striker over the line in the last few seconds and given that the £25.75million recruit from Udinese combined with Danish international Jesper Lindstrom to fashion the effort that put the Blues 2-1 up, Tait was delighted with the attitude and application shown by the couple of senior pros who bolstered his side. He said: “It’s great to have the first team players with us. The manager (Dyche) is always keen for the lads who need 90 minutes to come down and play with us.

“We had about seven or more experienced and even international players drop down last season. It’s great for our lads to get a look at them close up, to work with them and see what it takes to be a top player really.

“What these first team players want to do is come down, get 90 minutes under their belt, not pick up any injuries and then get back in the first team. Let’s not kid ourselves but if their attitude is the way it has been in the past and the way it was here then it helps our young lads.”

Asked how the process of choosing who joins them comes about, the 49-year-old Geordie added: “I’ll speak to the manager and I’ll speak to the coaching staff. We’ll go up there and I’ll write a team down and we’ll see where the first team lads need to fit in.

“We can only have two over-age in this one but the manager is always keen to get as many as he can in as he believes in players having 90 minutes under their belt and he thinks that’s where they’ll be ready to play. It’s just a chat around where they’re going to play and how long they’re going to play.”