Heath Sets New Target After Bright Accrington Start

Isaac Heath says he is relishing the opportunity to improve further after an impressive start to life on loan at Accrington Stanley.

Heath, Everton Under-21s' reigning Player of the Season, joined Stanley on a season-long loan at the start of September – his first loan spell away from Everton.

A long-term target of Accrington manager John Doolan, Heath has certainly hit the ground running at Wham Stadium, notching three goal involvements in his first seven games.

Accrington currently sit 20th in the League Two table having suffered three straight defeats, but Heath’s attacking contributions have drawn praise throughout the last six weeks and, speaking to staff at Wham Stadium, the youngster is already proving a popular figure among the Club and its supporters.

“The fans have been excellent so far,” Heath told evertontv pitchside before Accrington’s Vertu Trophy clash with Port Vale, for which the 20-year-old has been rested to be ready for a tough clash at home just days later.

“Tonight’s the first time that I haven't been involved in the squad, but it's just good to see the lads playing. I’m just getting ready for Saturday against Newport.

“I definitely feel like the staff and the fans have been really welcoming from day one, so it's been a really good (experience) so far.

“I’ve got a lot of minutes under my belt so far and I just try to contribute as much as I can.”

Marking his debut in the Vertu Trophy away at Fleetwood, Heath immediately caught the eye with a stunning solo effort to open the scoring, nicking the ball on half-way, racing clear of the last defender and finishing emphatically.

It demonstrated why Doolan was keen to get Heath in the building this summer following our friendly at Wham Stadium in July when, on a truly British summer’s night – a pre-season friendly played in torrential rain and swirling wind – Heath was one of several young players who impressed after coming on for the Blues in the second half, making a series of dangerous forays into the final third and winning a penalty that Beto duly converted.

“He can see a pass and is creative in the final third and wants to make things happen,” Doolan told Accrington’s official site, when Heath’s loan was announced. “He has tricks, he can beat his man and will get people off their seats.

“He can play across the front, he has the technical ability and is still learning tactically. We saw him first hand in pre-season when he came on and got a penalty for Everton.

“He has trained with the Everton first team and hopefully he can take that into the EFL.”

Heath would look to have done that in these admittedly very early stages, but as the bright young forward says himself, he still has plenty to learn about his game, what Doolan expects of him and what he needs to do to progress as a player.

“It's been good so far, but I feel I can definitely do more,” added Heath.

“Just getting more goalscoring opportunities, more chances created. I think that's what will really help progress my career so I’m just looking to do more.

“The intensity has been a lot higher (than Under-21s football) and there's a lot more riding on the games. There’s definitely a lot more pressure going into the games, but it's something that I enjoy experiencing.

“It's been difficult at times, in terms of physicality. The ball's definitely in the air a lot more, in a way, so there are different parts of my game that I can improve on and I can definitely improve a lot on many different aspects, like getting stronger when I'm playing against older players and players that are a lot stronger than me.

“I’ve been speaking to a lot of the staff at Everton over the course of the loan, and I went to Finch the other day to do some analysis of my clips and find ways to get better.

“The aim now is to get as many games as possible, contribute to the team as much as possible and develop mentally and physically every day.”