RESULTS WILL IMPROVE

Academy manager Ray Hall believes that the last four results have not reflected the true performances of the Everton under 18s side.
 
The young Blues go in to the game on Saturday against Man City (11am at Hyde Utd)having drawn four in four games, and Hall reckons that the draws could have been wins if key decisions had gone his way.
 
His side squandered leads against both Liverpool and Man United having had a player sent off in both games and a last minute goal given against the Red Devils - which replays later confirmed was offside.
 
Hall told evertonTV: “To be 3-1 up with ten minutes to go and actually finish the game 3-3 having lost a player was a little bit hard to take. It felt like a defeat. And then two weeks ago when we played Manchester United, exactly the same scenario – ten minutes to go, and a player sent off.
 
“Officials can or cannot influence a game and one or two decisions seemed to be going against us. I was stood in line for the third goal which came against Manchester United which was two minutes off the final whistle and it was yards offside. He even said later that he had made a mistake.”
 
The Toffees regularly field young sides due to the number of players either making the step up to the reserves or going out on loan to other clubs. And Hall thinks that this can only be a good thing, despite the lack of wins of late.
 
He cited last weekend’s goalless draw with Wolves: “We’ve had a very young side out and we haven’t played very well at all although we had enough chances in the last ten or fifteen minutes to have won. It’s probably because the players that would have made a difference are being promoted into the reserves or are going out on loan.
 
“So it’s a little bit disappointing, but we still remain optimistic. We are ahead of our closest rivals in Liverpool and Man United, so it’s nice to be where we are.
 
“We started the game on Saturday with only two under 18s and the rest under 17s so that should bode well for next season.”
 
Hall is now eagerly awaiting the trip to Manchester City – the league leaders - who he regards as the best side in the North West.
 
“We’re looking forward to it,” he added. “It’s a great opportunity because they are the games that you want in order to monitor the progress that the boys have made. If we do actually get a result, the last third of the season is going to be a lot more interesting.”