Several exciting talents have emerged from Everton's academy over recent months but Paul Tait believes their individual success has been rooted in the progress made by the wider team.
Tom Cannon, Isaac Price, Stanley Mills and Lewis Warrington have all caught the attention of Frank Lampard this season, earning minutes in the first team and call-ups to matchday squads. Warrington is already on loan at Fleetwood Town but the other three are closing in on senior football in the new year, whether through greater first-team involvement or on loan in the Football League.
For Tait, their rise is linked to the work taking place at Finch Farm and the success of Everton Under-21s as a unit. As he braces for the loss of his many of starlets for the second half of the campaign, he looked back with pride at the opening months.
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Everton U21s have notched a number of impressive wins since August. They scored 14 goals across five games against Football League teams in the Papa Johns Trophy and were one of only three academy sides to reach the last 16. They, like Manchester United and Chelsea, were knocked out on Tuesday but only after pushing League One Lincoln City in a six-goal thriller at Sincil Bank. The young Blues have also beaten the academy sides of Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain.
Cannon, Price and Mills have been integral to those successes. In response Mills - and Warrington, then still with the club - was given his senior debut at Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup. Cannon received his in the next round at Bournemouth before making his Premier League debut against the same opposition days later. Price, who made his Premier League debut at Arsenal on the final game of last season, was on the bench for the cup game at Bournemouth and Mills made it into the squad for the following league game after being brought on days earlier.
All three were then given the chance to impress in Australia during the club's involvement in the Sydney Super Cup last month. Cannon scored in the shootout against Celtic and then during the 5-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers and Mills played in both games. Price had a standout tour - excelling after starting in both matches. Lampard described him as the best player on the pitch against Celtic and then said he was close to the first team after he starred again. Reece Welch, Sebastian Quirk and Joe Anderson also earned minutes across the trip as Lampard offered them a taste of life in the senior team.
Opportunity in the heat of Australia did not prevent those players from being desperate to showcase themselves back at academy level however - several contacted Tait upon landing to find out how they could get involved in preparations for the Papa John Trophy knockout game against Mansfield Town at a wintry Goodison Park, which was won thanks to stoppage-time goals from Liam Higgins and Cannon. Hopes of a trip to Wembley may have been ended at Lincoln but reflecting on the development of his young stars after that game - as many are expected to head out on loan or even challenge for the first team in the new year - Tait expressed pride at what he had seen.
The Blues U21s boss told the ECHO: "I think looking at them individually I think they have all made great strides, whether that be the younger boys who are just coming into the team or the lads who are probably ready for men's football now, they have had a tremendous four or five months and are ready to try and push to get in and around our first team squad or try and get themselves on loan to somewhere like a Lincoln and start playing against men every week.
"I think a lot of them are ready for that so I think just progression as a team - the team has been the vehicle for that progression individually. Nearly every player in the system has made progression."
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