Everton Under-18’s boss Neil Dewsnip says he is not fazed by Everton’s mixed start to the 2009/10 campaign.

The young Blues lost two and won one of their first three fixtures of the season, but Dewsnip explained that these results weren’t necessarily a fair reflection on proceedings.

Several Everton youngsters have been on reserve and even first team duty already this season and this has a knock-on effect on the Under-18s setup.

Indeed, Dewsnip was proud to see academy graduates James Wallace and Jose Baxter enjoy first team action against Sigma Olomouc.

He gave credit to the young Blues' attitude on their progression from the academy programme. 

“It's been quite an up and down start on the basis that we've had quite a few of our players ‘promoted’ if you like, into the reserves and one or two players knocking around the bench of the first team,” Deswnip told evertonTV.

"It's a lovely experience for the boys - but the down side of that is that we haven't been as strong as we would have liked to have been on a Saturday morning.

[Advert]

"They need a lot of mentoring. Because you'll appreciate, for somebody like Jose Baxter, Shane Duffy or James Wallace, it's a really big deal to be in and around Everton's first team, and sometimes they can get ahead of themselves. And to their credit, each of the three boys that I've mentioned deal with it very, very well.”

Despite having suffered consecutive defeats to West Ham and Coventry in their first two fixtures, the Blues’ most recent result saw them storm to a 5-2 triumph at home to Sunderland last weekend, courtesy of full squad availability.

This followed success during pre-season at a tournament at Southend and the addition of new scholars to the side - so coach Dewsnip is confident that the foundations for success have been provided.

"We've probably just dipped a little bit recently, but we've sprung back again as of last weekend,” he added.

“And yet, this week, because of the international break, and there being no reserve games, we had the luxury of having all the youth players (with the exception of Shane Duffy who was away with Northern Ireland) available for selection. I think that showed in the way that we played on Saturday against Sunderland when we did very well.

"For Femi Orenuga, who's joined us from Southend, it's a culture change from the east end of London where he's from to up here, but he seems to be settling in quite nicely. And Luke Garbutt has come over from Leeds and he's also finding his feet, which is nice.” 

Everton’s Under-18s next fixture will see them travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Check out evertonfc.com for a report.