Marco Silva insists Everton will find consistency to their game as he prepares to welcome back a quartet of international players.
The Blues earned a terrific 3-0 Premier League win over Fulham last weekend with a swashbuckling second-half performance that saw Gylfi Sigurdsson net a stunning brace and Cenk Tosun nod in his first goal of the season.
But Everton were brought back down to earth by Southampton who edged them out of the Carabao Cup via a penalty shootout.
The Toffees have the chance to pick up where they left off in the league when they travel to the King Power Stadium to face Leicester City on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.
Silva admits he is after consistency within his squad but with the number of young players in his starting line-up – the Blues had an average age of 24 for both the league games against Arsenal and Fulham – it will take time.
“In the past two league games, we have played with the youngest team in the Premier League,” said Silva in his weekly press conference at USM Finch Farm. “In some moments we have seen that our consistency is not where we want it.
“We have had some fantastic moments but then sometimes we have come down. Then we go up again.
“We have to be more consistent in our games and be more mature in some moments. Of course, with better knowledge of what we want within our squad, we will achieve that. We will need time but it is something I want to achieve as soon as possible.”
However, Everton’s bid to find that uniformity is set for a boost with the news that Andre Gomes, Yerry Mina, Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy are closing in on a return to action.
Both Gomes and Mina are yet to feature for the Blues after arriving from Barcelona with minor problems on deadline day, while Coleman is progressing well after suffering a stress fracture of his foot. McCarthy could also step up his comeback from a broken leg during the international break.
They are doing well,” added Silva. “Andre has trained with the team this week and both him and Yerry have progressed as I expected. Seamus as well. After the break, we have the Crystal Palace match and they will be available to play if I decide [to select them].
“Andre needs a ‘mini pre-season’ but at the same time he needs to play as well. We will try to do something in the next international break to help him, Yerry, James and possibly Seamus get some minutes. That should help put them in a position to play should I decide next week.
“Of course, you want to have all the players available, from the first day if you can, but that has not happened until now.
“I hope after the next international break they will all be available. We will be strong in that moment, for sure.
“But we are working hard and of course there are some things to solve. But that is part of my job – I am here to find solutions. If I don’t have one player or another, it is down to me to find the best solution for our club.
“When everyone is available, and they are working hard, we will be stronger, especially when I have all the options available to me when I pick my starting XI. We will show that in the future.”
