Stones To Start For U21s

Defender set for first Everton action at Fulham on Monday.

January signing John Stones will make his first Everton appearance on Monday when the Club’s Under-21s take on Fulham at Motspur Park.

The right-back signed from Championship Barnsley on transfer deadline day, penning a five-and-a-half year deal.

After helping England Under-19s to a 3-1 win over Denmark last Tuesday, Stones was named on David Moyes' first-team bench for the first time on Sunday as the Blues suffered a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.

Stones has now travelled down to London with Alan Stubbs' charges and is set to feature in a strong starting line-up which will also include Shane Duffy, Matthew Kennedy, Francisco Junior, Conor McAleny and Apostolos Vellios.

The meeting with the Cottagers will also see left-back Luke Garbutt make his return to action after a season plagued by injury.

The England Under-19 star made his first-team debut in August's Capital One Cup victory over Leyton Orient but suffered back-to-back ankle injuries, forcing surgery and a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Kennedy played the full 120 minutes as Everton's Under-18s progressed to the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup with a 3-2 extra-time victory at Port Vale last Thursday, just 24 hours after playing for Scotland's Under-19s in Holland.

Two other members of that Blues squad, Conor Grant and Mason Springthorpe, start, while Russell Griffiths, Tom Molyneux and Chris Long are named among the substitutes.  

Everton: Springthorpe, Stones, Garbutt, Lundstram, Duffy, Browning, Kennedy, Junior, Vellios, McAleny, Grant. Subs: Griffiths, Hope, Long, Molyneux, Johns.