Davies relishing his time to shine
TOM DAVIES is hoping his England Under-21 form has been noticed by club manager Marco Silva.
The Everton midfielder ran the show for the Young Lions in a 2-0 victory over Kosovo on Monday after also featuring in the win over Turkey last Friday.
Silva has given Davies only 11 minutes this season, the homegrown star having fallen out of contention after Everton’s summer spending spree. But Davies has excelled for Aidy Boothroyd’s side and has relished his opportunity.
He said: “It’s been good to go away and get two games under my belt. I’m happy with everything that’s going on. This last week has been good for me. So I’ll be looking forward to getting back to Everton and playing, hopefully.”
Asked if he had impressed Silva, he added: “I hope so. I’m just doing my best and hopefully I’ve impressed him against Kosovo and it’s up to him.”
Fabian Delph and Andre Gomes kept Davies out of the team two weeks ago, while Morgan Schneiderlin and Jean-Philippe Gbamin are also positional rivals.
Davies said: “Everton stay in touch. I got a text after the Turkey game from one of the staff. They watched the game. It was positive they were watching and I’m glad they were.”
Davies is one of the senior squad members in a new generation of Under-21 players who have gelled quickly, and he wants to play a leadership role in getting the squad to the finals in Hungary and Slovenia in 2021.
“It’s been good to get to know the new lads and a new group,” he said. “It looks promising.”
Boothroyd has certainly been impressed, adding: “Tom was outstanding. He’s not playing for his club side, so to put those two performances in…
“We’ll see how that holding role develops.”