Striker Hallam Hope has targeted more goals after adding to his season’s tally to give Everton Under-21s a 1-1 draw at Newcastle on Monday.
Hope’s second goal of the campaign 20 minutes from time restored parity after forward Adam Armstrong had given the hosts the lead with a strike on the stroke of half-time.
Hope admitted the Blues were left content with a point, the Newcastle team having featured seven players with first-team experience, including Gael Bigirimana, Sammy Ameobi and former Blues midfielder Dan Gosling.
“I was happy to get my goal,” said Hope. “It was a good cross from Longy [Chris Long] and I was just happy to be in the right place at the right time.
“It was an experienced Newcastle team and we had to adapt during the game to cope with that, and we were happy to be rewarded with a result.
“It’s always bad conceding just before half-time, and heads were obviously down in the dressing room. But we knew what we had to do and we worked hard as a team to get back into it the way we did.
“Personally, it was good to get the goal and hopefully I can carry on scoring going forward.”
Everton now sit seventh in the Barclays Under-21 Premier League following the draw and Hope believes the side is starting to gel following the introduction of a number of new players.
The 19-year-old said: “There’s quite a good vibe among the group. We all know each other well and we’re starting to play well together.
“We’re coming together more now as a team because we are quite a new team – there’s quite a few new faces for this season. But I feel like we’ve got a good vibe and we can only get better.”
With the team progressing, the Manchester-born starlet is pleased with his own form and is hoping to add to his latest strike with games against Chelsea and Blackburn coming up.
“I think I’ve started okay,” he said. “There was one game where I would have liked to have played better but the other games I think I’ve been satisfied with my contribution. Like I said, it was nice to score and now I just want to carry on doing it.”