Everton boss Ronald Koeman has urged Ross Barkley to improve his productivity.

The often-touted 23-year-old midfielder was dropped for last weekend's 11- draw with Manchester United after failing to impress the Dutchman.

While Barkley has been spruiked as the 'next big thing' at Goodison Park, his career trajectory is certainly not where it is expected to be, prompting Koerman to implore him to rediscover his best and force his way back into the starting XI.

"He played a lot, he did not play last weekend and that is the competition we have in the squad," Koeman said ahead of Saturday's trip to Watford.

"If you like to play you need to show that to the manager during the whole week and he is trying to do his best.

"We know he is one of the players who needs to bring more productivity and that is the talk we had about his situation.

"Sometimes it can be a tactical reason, sometimes I expect more from Ross Barkley but I expect more from other players offensively.

"He needs to accept it. He needs to show it on the training pitch and that is the best way to give the best answer as to why he doesn't play.

"He is always trying to do his best but it is not always about the mentality of the player, it is about tactics, his movement, his productivity and those can all be reasons he did not start last week."

Barkley has scored two goals and provided one assist in 12 Premier League outings so far this season.