Gethin Jones hopes Everton Under-21s’ triumph at the SuperCupNI can spark a successful start to the 2016/17 campaign.

The young Blues are midway through their pre-season preparations, with the potential of silverware having given their most recent friendlies an added competitive edge.

Jones wore the armband on Saturday during the final victory over Celtic and lifted the trophy aloft to herald the team’s strong and impressive return to action after the summer break.  

And the right-back, also captain of Wales Under-21s, told evertontv how the desire to taste victory at every opportunity is driving the squad on together.

“We didn’t come out here just to play games or get our fitness up,” he said. “We want to win, as with every game. Even in pre-season we want to win, no matter who the team is. We want to perform and, if we do that, we can win any game.

“The final against Celtic was a brilliant match for us. It was our third game of pre-season and it was a good run out, even though we were a bit stiff to start off having played two days ago.

“We got through it in the warm-up and started to play in the first half, then Harry [Charsley] got the goal and that settled us down a little bit. It’s always hard in pre-season because you’re training hard whilst playing games but you’ve got to get through it to get your levels as high as you can.

“Last year we went through pre-season winning every game and that’s what we want to do again this season now.”

Jones also revealed how head coach David Unsworth continues to stick to his own playing ethic of prioritising keeping the opposition at bay.

He added: “The first thing he said to me as I came off the pitch was, ‘Well done, another clean sheet’.

"He was really happy and he said before the game that he wanted us to win, but not just that - to play well, perform well and get the clean sheet.”