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Hornby is grabbing his Scotland U21s chance with both hands

Fraser Hornby has been describing how the support he has received at Everton with his transition from midfielder to striker is paying dividends as he starts to make his mark at international level.

The 19-year-old scored all five of Scotland Under-21s' goals over the international break, grabbing a brace in a 2-0 win over the Netherlands just days after scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Andorra.

His performance against the Dutch was notable for an audacious 40-yard strike as he capitalised on a mistake by the home team's goalkeeper, a measure of the confidence with which he is playing following a successful year at U23 level for Everton.

"As a striker, you always have to try to play within the width of the goal, you have to be alive in the box all the time," Hornby told evertonfc.com.

“The coaches at Everton are always getting on at me to stay between the sticks. I still have a midfielder's brain on me a bit. I like to come short and link the play.

“But they are always telling me to stay in the box and that is where I am going to score most of my goals.

“With my height, having heading as a strength was vital. And when I made the switch to striker, my coaches at Under-18 level, Paul Tait and Kevin Sheedy, just really wanted me to put an emphasis on that becoming an asset.”

Despite being only 18 at the time, Hornby was handed his first-team bow last year in the Europa League dead rubber against Apollon Limassol in Nicosia, a game that Everton won handsomely despite the youthful makeup of the team that the Blues fielded that night.

The young Scot has since had subsequent opportunities to train with the senior squad where he has, no doubt, received some pointers from his compatriot Duncan Ferguson, and he says that it is all standing him in good stead for the future.

“Every time I have trained with the first team, the strikers have been really good with me, so it is about trying to take little things they do and put them into my game,” Hornby continued.

“[The major strength of Premier League strikers] is being really clinical inside the box. In certain games, you might only get one or two chances and it is important at the top level that you put them away.”

“The international break has done me the world of good. I am off the mark with my goalscoring and hopefully I can continue that form for Everton.”

 

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