Everton defender Paddy Boyle played his first full 90 minutes for almost a year in last week's friendly win over Bury.

Blues No2 Alan Irvine told evertonTV: "I was delighted for Paddy. If anyone was going to break down or tie up it was going to be Paddy. I made special mention of him in the dressing room because of that. He has been out for a long time.

"I feel as if he is not quite as sharp as the Paddy before he got injured but that will come with some extra sprint work. I am pleased he battled through because with 15 minutes to go he was starting to cramp up. I asked him if he was okay and he gave me the thumbs up so he deserves credit."