Dominic Calvert-Lewin says Everton’s assembly of young homegrown talents “back ourselves” to compete with the Blues’ established performers for starting spots.
England Under-21 international Calvert-Lewin roared back into action last week, hitting the net three times in his first two starts of the campaign.
He helped himself to a Carabao Cup double against Rotherham United on a night when 20-year-old teammate Tom Davies became the youngest player to captain Everton.
Calvert-Lewin retained his place against Huddersfield Town on Saturday, replacing Richarlison on the left of the Blues' attack and scoring the equaliser which preserved his side’s unbeaten start to the campaign.
The 21-year-old, who spent the summer rehabilitating from a back injury which curtailed his 2017-18 campaign, shared the credit for his assertive weekend display with boss Marco Silva.
“He has been good for me. I have played on the left quite a lot but he told me a few things before the game to try to help me out a little bit and they did,” Calvert-Lewin told evertontv.
“There are quite a few young players in the team but we can all compete. And it is nice to know the manager sees that, he sees it on a daily basis because we are all working hard in training.
“And we all back ourselves to compete with anyone in the squad.
“I was over the moon for Tom [when he was skipper against Rotherham]. Everyone knows we are good friends and it was great to top off that occasion with a win.”
Calvert-Lewin and Davies were Everton’s busiest outfield players last term, amassing 87 appearances between them.
Midfielder Davies played 43 times and Calvert-Lewin would conceivably have added to his 44 outings were it not for the back problem which ended his season one month early.
He scored eight goals in all competitions after being switched to a central striking role from a berth out wide.
Calvert-Lewin had been restricted to two cameos from the bench this season before starting alongside Oumar Niasse in attack in the Goodison Park victory over Championship Rotherham.
The former Sheffield United player was moved to the left for the visit of Huddersfield, however, with Silva aiming to fill the void left by suspended Brazilian Richarlison.
Calvert-Lewin joins up this week with Aidy Boothroyd's England Under-21 squad for Thursday night's European Championship qualifier against Holland at Carrow Road.
Boothroyd's team then travel to face Latvia next Tuesday, when they could potentially book their place at next summer's tournament in Italy and San Marino. Calvert-Lewin returns to club duty when Everton host West Ham United in a Premier League fixture on September 16.
“It has been a good week and it is nice to be back on the scoresheet at Goodison,” said Calvert-Lewin.
“Firstly in the week against Rotherham – but Saturday was that little bit more important for me.
“It was my first start in the Premier League since my injury and I wanted to make an impression. And it was nice to get the goal.
“I have played the position on the left so knew I could do it. I just have to do a job for the team. We were disappointed to not go and get all three points. Huddersfield came with a gameplan and stuck to it and we could not quite break them down.
"At the same time, it was important to make sure we did not lose the game. We wanted to go into the international break with our unbeaten record intact."
