Everton U23 coach David Unsworth says Ellis Simms isn't ready to be fast-tracked to the first team.

Simms has made an instant impression at under-23 level this season after scoring eight goals in 17 appearances following a stunning campaign for the under-18s in which be bagged 46 times.

But Unsworth told the Liverpool Echo: "We're trying to improve his all-round game.

"When balls are thread through to him, there's nobody better. We know that and he's top-class at that and his finishing is fantastic.

"What we're trying to ask him is to be a member of the team when we've not got the ball and help the team out and certain bits of movement that have been worked on since day one of pre-season.

"His physicality has got to improve, his hold-up play has got to improve. There's a lot of things we know, warts-and-all, that people don't see.

"People see Ellis Simms scored two goals and expect him to be in our first-team. It's a long way off but it's not something he can't do."