David Unsworth praised striker Tom Cannon’s "fast rate" of improvement this season after the striker’s brace ensured Everton Under-23s returned to winning ways with a solid 2-0 victory at Derby County on Monday night.

The deadlock was broken inside 19 minutes at Loughborough University Stadium with a wonderful solo effort from Cannon, who picked up possession 25 yards from goal before shifting the ball on to his left foot and firing a venomous shot into the top corner of the net.

The 19-year-old forward bagged his and Everton's second of the evening midway through the second half. This time it came in less eye-catching circumstances, with Seb Quirk's inviting cross eventually finding its way over the line via the standing leg of Cannon, who miscued his attempted volley.

Unsworth said: “We all know about Tom’s goalscoring, he does the hardest thing in the game, he puts the ball in the back of the net.

“We just need to get the other areas of his game up to speed and he’s done so well this year.

"He’s developed at a really fast rate and we’re all delighted for him.”

Cannon’s strike partner Lewis Dobbin also impressed throughout the Derby clash and Unsworth paid tribute to the pair’s growing connection in attack. “I thought Tom linked up really well with Lewis,” he added. 

“Lewis was at the top of his game. He looked so dangerous and sharp. The only thing that was missing from his performance was a goal and their keeper made a couple of great saves from him.

"On another night, he and Tom could have had hat-tricks.”

After an impressive seven-game unbeaten run over the Christmas and new year period, the young Blues headed into the Derby game on the back of two unfortunate 2-1 defeats.

But Unsworth's side showed no signs of a confidence shortage against the Rams – attacking with speed and purpose and defending resiliently against their hosts. The victory sees the Toffees climb three places to seventh in the Premier League 2 table.

“If I’m going to be critical, we should have been out of sight in the first half, really,” Unsworth added. 

“With our young team, there are lessons to be learned in every game, but the lesson for this one is we’ve got to be more clinical and put teams away. 

“But I thought we looked dangerous all night and we had fantastic team shape – and that’s credit to the lads for keeping their concentration and doing the ugly stuff well.”

Everton Under-23s will look to build on the Derby victory on Monday night when they take on Chelsea at Southport FC’s Haig Avenue stadium (7pm GMT) – and the game will be streamed live on our official YouTube channel. Our live coverage will begin at 6.45pm.