Chester 2 - 4 Everton U23s

Of the younger lads I'd say Sambou stood out the most. He's very skinny but very quick and put a big shift in. Although he's slim I liked that he put himself about a lot and got involved in everything, even a bit of pushing and shoving which was nice to see! He had some very nice touches and looked dangerous. Good finish for his goal.

Renshaw was very poor in goal. Not sure how old he is but he seemed out of his depth to me. Poor kicking, poor in the air and spilt a few shots.

Deeny at right back poor first half but better second.

Ouzounidis poor and subbed at half-time, replaced by Foulds who looked far better.

Markelo and Adeniran were poor first half but much better second. Out themselves about a bit but struggled to hang on to the ball and couldn't dictate play at any stage.

Evans had a stinker and was replaced at half-time. I think he just had one of those days and looked like there may be a player in there. Charsley replaced him and was much better – impressed with him.

Of all the players I would follow Fraser Hornby the most. His touch wasn't great today but for a young lad he already has the physical attributes required for top level football. He's fairly tall but quite quick, quite strong and quite good in the air. Struck a cracking free kick against the post. If he kicks on a bit he may do well.

Lavery is a funny one. Short and 'plump' but cracking finish for his goal. Maybe a fox in the box?

Overall, I would give a 6 out of 10 although I believe they had a very tough training week. What I would say is they weren't bullied at all – quite the opposite. Unfortunately, Chester seemed to show better touches and passing at times, mainly in the first half. Not what you would expect!

Give them a season to continue their development and a few may make the squad towards the end of the season.

Two of our best young defenders Morgan Feeney and Lewis Gibson were out injured, at 19 and 18 they are too young yet to be pitched into the Premier League but hopefully sometime in the future.

I thought Chester deserved a draw on the whole.

For me game changed when Charlsey went on and Broadhead upped his game and they started to run the game a bit. Agree goalie was poor and like you didn't know what to make of Lavery. Thought he looked overweight and nothing like a footballer but he took his goal well and showed some good touches.

I know Feeney is injured but Gibson and Bowler were not in the squad either, don't know if they are injured too.

In second half, Charlsey came on and started to improve things; this seemed to make Nathan up his game and these two started to run things, each scoring to put us 2-1 up.

I don't know if he's got what it takes to make it in the Premier League but he's steady and always works hard whenever I've seen him.

Living in Bangor I'd be made up if he did make it with The Blues.

Lot better second half and agree Charsley looks a good footballer.

I was trying to keep it positive after the second half display but I agree, I wouldn't think many of them will end up the Premier League. Give them credit though, they are young and got stuck in.

A couple of glimmers of high quality but not loads.

Phill – Broadhead showed some nice touches but wasn't in the game much until second half. Like a few of our other bits I imagine he looks good against his own age group but this is a bit tougher and they weren't given much time on the ball. To be fair, the team looks like it has some good finishers in it – Broadhead included.

Bill – I don't know if you agree but the Chester left-back/wing-back was best player on pitch during first half and caused us a bit of trouble. Not sure of his name though. Their small number 11 was good too which was worrying as they struggled to shut him out until second half.

Given that Evans & Hornby are so highly rated, I was shocked at how poor they were, though Hornby was unlucky with his terrific free-kick that rattled the bar.

Given their reputations, I would say today must have been an off-day but nothing came off for either of them.

I just looked at Browning’s stats, in all his career both with us and loans, he’s made 44 league appearances. The other three have similar amounts as well. I don’t know what it is with defenders but we like to stockpile them. Any other position, we normally release or sell at around 20-21.