Silva hails ‘fantastic professional’ Digne
EVERTON boss Marco Silva has heaped praise on in-form left-back Lucas Digne. Digne has impressed since his switch from Barcelona in August, and scored twice in the 5-1 win at Burnley on Boxing Day. ‘Fantastic football player,’ said Silva ahead of today’s trip to Brighton. ‘Fantastic professional, works always with big ambition, and he’s a winner. He likes to win, not just in the matches but in every training session as well. ‘He came here to work really hard, to improve every day. Of course I knew before we signed him, when I analysed him, he could be an important player for us, even if we have a very good solution like Leighton Baines. ‘We don’t have doubts about his quality but after, when you start to work with players, you know them better and his character, his personality as a player is fantastic. He is doing very well, has settled really well in our club, and what I expect is something more, because he has the quality to improve.’ Another player Everton signed from Barcelona in the summer is Colombia defender Yerry Mina. He scored his first goal for the club at Turf Moor, and Silva, asked if he felt Mina’s display in that game had been his best yet, said: ‘I don’t think so. It was a very good performance, but on his debut he played a very, very good game. ‘It is important for him to grow his confidence. He is a new player in the country. The language is really important in specific positions on the pitch, like central defender, goalkeeper — players I want always in command. He is improving in this situation, to speak English, as fast as he can.’ Mina was part of a three-man defence at Burnley, alongside Michael Keane and Kurt Zouma, with Silva changing formation after the 6-2 home loss to Spurs. Asked if he would deploy a back three more often, Silva said: ‘It is something I had in my mind since pre-season. ‘It was not the first time we did it, and let’s see in the future if we do it more times or not.’