Everton defender Nathan Patterson appears no closer to his Toffees first-team debut as Frank Lampard piled more praise on Jonjoe Kenny.
The 20-year-old Scotland cap moved from Rangers for a club record fee in January but Seamus Coleman is keeping him out of the team on the right side of defence.
Meanwhile former Celtic flop Kenny is also an option as he starred on the left against Leeds United in the absence of Vitalii Mykolenko.
Kenny was seen wildly celebrating after Coleman's early opener in the 3-0 win last weekend.
And new boss Lampard reckons that moment, described as "absolute gold", sums up the 24-year-old - before hinting he'll remain in the side.
Lampard said: "He did and that's absolute gold because the fans will relate hugely to that. We all saw the images of that.
"I don't want to make him just a local lad with a big heart, he's a very good player. I saw that from the moment we've been here, I knew that from before.
"Some of my staff have worked with him previously, so the references I had before coming here were that he's a great lad and a very good player."
It was only Kenny's fourth start of the Premier League campaign and Lampard expects that performance to be a catalyst for the rest of his season.
"When you've got lads like that in the group they help," Lampard said.
"They help the positive feeling, they help with the determination and the moments to dig in. The Leeds game was a moment to dig in and he did that.
"He can be very happy with that and hopefully it's a springboard for him in the short term.
"Because we're fresh and new as a staff everyone has that chance to impress and what better way to do it than the way Jonjoe did it last week."
Everton are bidding for back-to-back league wins for the first time since September but Lampard is weighing up whether to play the same starting XI when he takes on Southampton on Saturday.
He said: "There's an argument for going same again. I felt similar going into Newcastle and it didn't quite work, so it's not a statement of fact.
"The players have to feel through the week that they can find a way into the team, if we have to change our approach to the opposition because Leeds to Southampton - two very good teams in lots of different ways.
"The good thing is we've got players who are playing well and who are hungry to get into the team."
