Kieran Dowell says his season at Nottingham Forest helped him mature as a footballer – and will aid his bid to impress new Everton manager Marco Silva.
The 20-year-old, whose two Premier League outings for the Blues came at the back end of 2015/16, was given 65 minutes – the most time of any Everton player – in the 22-0 pre-season friendly win over ATV Irdning on Saturday.
Dowell took his chance to impress in Austria by creating the Toffees’ opening three goals and proved a constant source of attacking threat during his time on the pitch.
The midfielder reported back to USM Finch Farm at the start of July reflecting on a golden summer when he struck the winning goal in England Under-21s’ Toulon Tournament final victory over Mexico.
Dowell scored nine times in 31 league starts for Forest and was also on target in the Midlanders’ shock FA Cup third-round dismantling of Premier League Arsenal.
He has been channelling those experiences into his efforts to catch Silva’s eye, which continued as Everton’s pre-season preparations intensified during a six-day training camp in Austria last week.
“That was the plan when I went out on loan – to get that experience under my belt and bring that back to Everton and use it to push into the first team,” Dowell told evertontv.
“It was my first experience of proper football. I played 40-odd games last season and off the pitch I grew up a lot living on my own. Every week, I had that need to win.
“I learned about changing the way you play depending on how the game is going. If you are winning 1-0, you are less likely to try stuff – you try to keep hold of the ball instead.”
Dowell shared his Toulon Tournament glory with fellow Everton Academy graduates Jonjoe Kenny, Tom Davies and Callum Connolly.
The Club’s footprint was also embedded firmly on England Under-20s’ 2017 World Cup triumph in South Korea, with Dowell, Kenny, Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all having prominent roles in the country’s first global success in 51 years.
Dowell is now keen to emulate Kenny and Davies back at Goodison Park, where that pair have progressed through the Blues’ renowned youth set-up to establish themselves in the Toffees’ first-team ranks.
And the gifted attacker, who joined Everton aged seven and made his senior bow as an early substitute in a Europa League tie with Krasnodar in December 2014, believes the concentrated nature of pre-season provides the ideal opportunity to press his own first-team claims.
“It is great to be back and seeing the same faces again,” said Dowell. “Last season was my first time away from Everton, so it was a different experience. But it is good to be back.
“It is a clean slate for everyone. To come in again under a new manager, he will have his own ideas. He has had the time to look at everyone and has got his own point of view across.
“You’ve got a chance to push yourself forward and show him what you can do.
“The international success is always nice. I love going away with England and it is always good in the summer. It helps you get going in pre-season back at Everton. You do not have as much of a break but it helps you hit the ground running when you come back.
“That Everton core [in England age-group squads] is how it has been for years. It is nice to have the lads there with you when you go away.”
