Everton have 'sensational' talent who just took big step with Kevin Thelwell watching on

On the face of things, there might not have been much to take from Everton's under-23s making their return to action on Monday evening. They were beaten 2-0 by Blackburn Rovers at Southport with goals in either half confirming what was a comfortable victory for the visitors.

Realistically, David Unsworth's side deserved to get beat. Playing in a 5-3-2 formation which has served them well on multiple occasions this term, they weren't able to play through the lines as effectively as they might have liked despite a few notable performances - from Sean McAllister, Rhys Hughes and Stanley Mills in particular.

But it was the return of Charlie Whitaker from injury that might have captured the select fans in attendance, with a stream of the match not being available to due a senior Premier League match overlapping the fixture. The midfielder got 70 minutes, making his first appearance since the beginning of January.

He was injured in a 3-1 Premier League Cup victory over Sheffield United earlier this year, having been impeded in the build-up to the Blades' only goal of the game. Initially assessed as potentially being out for "a couple of weeks", it proved to be three months later that the youngster would actually make his return.

His previous 11 appearances in the league for the U23s had yielded five goals, making a good few supporters who regularly kept in touch with academy talents sit up and take notice. This, of course, followed quite the summer for the youngster.

He was included in the travelling squad for the Florida Cup in pre-season, and even got onto the pitch for his first senior minutes against Pumas in the second match of the competition. A few months previously, he'd made the step up from the under-18s to the U23s