Stubbs: On our day were as good as anyone
Alan Stubbs was full of praise for his under 21 players after welcoming a number of them back from loan and says that with all their players around they are as good as any team that they will face.
Stubbs welcomed back Tyias Browning, Matthew Pennington, Matt Kennedy, Mason Springthorpe and Hallam Hope from their loan clubs (due to FA rules which means they can still play for their parent club in under 21 fixtures) and Stubbs was also delighted to see Conor Mcaleny come off the bench and gain some fitness after suffering a bad leg break while on loan at Brentford a number of months ago.
He told evertonfc.com: “It’s always great to have them back because you know you’ve got quality. I’ve said it many times – on our day we’re as good as anyone with everyone here.
“We had quite a few back tonight and it showed. They’re displaying a maturity from going out on loan and you can see that in the game. Whereas maybe a few years ago I was shouting a lot of instructions to help them, I’m shouting less now which is good from my point of view.
“I think we’re starting to see them mature as young men now. They’ve got personalities which are coming out. After a few years they’ve suddenly realised they’ve got voices as well and they’re starting to use them in the right way which is really positive.
“Our young lads are also learning very quickly which is very pleasing.”
“It was a quite even contest,” Stubbs added. “We both had chances. Our application on an awful pitch was first class. Overall I was really happy with the way the lads dealt with the conditions.
“The pitch was very poor, but it was the same for both teams. We both tried to play our game, but it was difficult at times.
“Overall we’re really happy with the performance and the desire to put bodies on the line. Their understanding to get back into shape when we didn’t have the ball was great – we also forced them into mistakes and frustrated them.
“I applauded all the lads at the end of the game for how they approached it, but for me the most positive part of the night was seeing the little fella back after his leg break.
“The fact Conor has come on and had 30 minutes will do him the world of good psychologically.
“He’s on the road to recovery now and we’ll keep building him up and easing him along to get him back to where he was.”
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