Einar Iversen is determined to continue making match-defining contributions for Everton Under-23s – and help the young Blues extend their five-game unbeaten run when they visit Derby County on Monday night (7pm GMT).
The Premier League 2 clash will be streamed live on our Official YouTube channel from 6.45pm on Monday.
Everton go into the game fifth in the league table, three places and two points ahead of Derby. The young Blues beat Leicester City 4-2 last time out, with Iversen on target in an impressive victory for David Unsworth’s side.
The Norway Under-21 international has, in fact, had a direct hand in goals in the Toffees’ past three matches.
His smart finish opened the scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion in the young Blues’ final game before the Christmas break and he expertly teed up Rhys Hughes for Everton's strike in a 1-1 Merseyside derby draw on 18 January.
“I’ve been looking to get into the box more,” Iversen told evertontv.
“I’ve not really been the most dangerous in front of goal in the past few seasons.
“I’m always trying to improve my all-round game but my main aim has been to try to get more goals and assists in my game.
“Getting two goals and an assist in my past three matches is been good for me.
“I want to keep going the way that I have been in recent matches.”
Iversen has emerged as a key performer for Unsworth’s team this season, starting all 13 of Everton Under-23s' Premier League 2 matches.
“I’ve been lucky I have stayed away from injuries,” says the 19-year-old.
“Being able to constantly play and train, it helps you a lot.
“Hopefully I can stay like that. I know there are other players in the squad who are hungry to play so there is competition for places.
“You just have to show that desire to play every day in training.”
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The 4-2 victory against Leicester represented the young Blues’ first match since prolific striker Ellis Simms joined League One side Blackpool on loan for the remainder of the season.
Simms – who netted twice on his league debut for Blackpool last week – had hit eight of Everton Under-23s’ 17 goals prior to the win over the Foxes.
Iversen believes the performance and result against Leicester showed Everton boast the depth of talent to assume the goalscoring mantle in Simms’ absence. As well as Iversen, Thierry Small, Con Ouzoundis and Nathan Broadhead were also on the scoresheet in a convincing success.
“Obviously, Ellis is a really good player and he scores a lot of goals,” Iversen said.
“But I think Broady [Broadhead] was really good against Leicester. For 90 minutes he was a threat.
“Now Ellis has gone, we need more people to be a threat.
“The shape we had against Leicester made it really hard for them to get through us and, when we won the ball, we countered and we were really dangerous.
“I think getting a win like that gives us a lot of confidence going forward into this game Derby.”
Watch Derby County Under-23s v Everton Under-23s live on our Official YouTube channel from 6.45pm on Monday night.
