Ronald Koeman says Everton’s involvement in Europe will speed up the footballing education of his highly-talented collection of youngsters.
Six Everton players were named in the England Under-21 squad this week for European Championship qualifiers against Holland and Latvia in early September.
Two of those men – Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ademola Lookman – lined up for Koeman’s side in Hajduk Split’s febrile Stadion Poljud on Thursday night.
Gylfi Sigurdsson struck 12 seconds after half-time to equalise Josip Radosevic’s first-half goal, and Jordan Pickford saved a 65th-minute penalty, as the Blues drew 1-1 to seal their progress to the Europa League group stage.