Loan Watch: 6th November

Shane Duffy (above) got another ninety minutes of playing time under his belt as Scunthorpe lost 2-0 at Bournemouth in League One. Scott Malone and Wes Thomas scored the Cherries' goals.

Femi Orenuga was not involved as Notts County drew 1-1 with Wycombe Wanderers.

Jose Baxter missed Tranmere's goalless draw with Colchester through suspension following a red card last time out.

Luke Garbutt helped Cheltenham Town into third place in League Two with a 0-1 away win at Bradford. Robins boss Mark Yates described his side's performance as 'the best of the season'.

James Wallace made his debut for Shrewsbury Town, but only lasted 24 minutes before he was shown red for a lunge on Dagenham & Redbridge's Jon Nurse.

Connor Roberts made his second appearance for Northern Premier League side Burscough and impressed in goal for the Linnets, despite his side going down 2-1 to Frickley Athletic.

João Silva played for Portuguese side Vitória de Setúbal as they drew 0-0 with Gil Vicente on Sunday evening.

Loan Watch: 30th October

Everton players had mixed fortunes with their respective loan sides this weekend.

Shane Duffy celebrated his loan extension at Scunthorpe United in style with his side's first goal in a 4-2 victory over Tranmere Rovers. The Irish defender headed home after 20 minutes to cancel out Mustafa Tiryaki's early opener for the visitors.

Jose Baxter was also involved in the fixture at Glanford Park, playing for the visitors, Tranmere Rovers. At least, until he was sent off on 63 minutes for a foul on Scunthorpe captain Sam Togwell.

Femi Orenuga (pictured above, right) made his second substitute appearance for Notts County since joining them little over a fortnight ago. The winger was introduced on 72 minutes - at which point County were already trailing by 3 goals to 1 - and his side went on to lose 4-2.

Luke Garbutt retained his place in Cheltenham Town's starting XI as the Robins' impressive form continued with a narrow 2-1 victory over strugglers Plymouth Argyle. Away side Argyle took a first-half lead but two late goals - one of which was scored from the penalty spot after a foul on Garbutt - were enough to hand Cheltenham the points.

Connor Roberts kept goal for Burscough in their Northern Premier League clash with Buxton. The Everton Academy 'keeper, playing his first game for the non-League outfit, helped his loan side to a 2-2 draw.

João Silva played for Vitória de Setúbal against his previous loan side União de Leiria. Silva, who was with Leiria last year, played the full 90 minutes as Setúbal went down 2-0.

Joseph Yobo played ninety minutes for Fenerbahçe against Karabükspor. Despite going a man down early on Yobo's side ran out 1-0 winners.

Orenuga Joins Notts County On Loan

Everton winger Femi Orenuga has signed for League One side Notts County on a one-month loan deal.

Orenuga, a fast and skilful winger who signed for Everton in 2009, made his debut for previous club Southend United at the age of just 15, although he has yet to make a senior appearance at Goodison Park.

A regular in the reserves, Orenuga played the last 15 minutes as Everton's second string beat Sunderland 2-0 on Tuesday.

Speaking after completing his loan move, Orenuga said: "I want to get some experience and am looking forward to working with Martin Allen. I'm a fast, tricky player who likes to beat the full-back a lot, so I should be exciting for the crowd."

County are flying high in League One and lie 4th after 13 games. Orenuga could be in line to make his debut against Brentford on Saturday.

Everton Reserves 2-0 Sunderland Reserves

Everton's second string recorded a 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Tuesday afternoon thanks to a late strike from Conor McAleny and an own goal from Sunderland's Liam Marrs.

Marcus Hahnemann started his first game since joining the club and the American custodian was joined in making his reserve team debut by 16-year-old left-back Ibou Touray. German U20 defender Shkodran Mustafi was joined in central defence by Jake Bidwell - a left-back by trade - whilst Tyias Browning played at right-back.

Adam Forshaw and Magaye Gueye operated the flanks with James Wallace and Ross Barkley in the centre of midfield. Argentine Denis Stracqualursi partnered the returning James McFadden up front.

The Everton bench consisted of; Adam Davies, John Lundstram, Femi Orenuga, Conor McAleny and Anton Forrester.

It was midfielder - and Everton captain - James Wallace who had the game's first opportunity, firing wide from 25 yards after 12 minutes. At the other end Tyias Browning was forced into making a goal-line clearance after a dangerous Sunderland corner.

It was Wallace who had the best chance of the opening period. French winger Magaye Gueye sent in a low ball but the resulting shot from the onrushing Wallace was just over the crossbar.

Marcus Hahnemann was called into action to save a half-volley from Sunderland's Jordan Cook, but an exciting first-half was to end on a sour note for Everton as forward Denis Stracqualursi picked up an injury. He was replaced by Anton Forrester, who has been scoring for fun in the U18s.

Scotsman James McFadden was withdrawn at the break and replaced by young Conor McAleny. Everton had the better of the opening second-half exchanges, with substitute McAleny and Gueye both going close.

The blustery conditions almost contrived to thwart Everton as Hahnemann misjudged a cross, but Tyias Browning was there again to clear. Ross Barkley had a shot deflected over before Everton made their third and final substitution as James Wallace made way for Femi Orenuga.

Everton's pressure told when they took the lead on 82 minutes. Adam Forshaw's cross, aimed for the lurking Anton Forrester, hit the unfortunate Sunderland defender Liam Marrs and flew into the net.

A minute later Everton doubled the lead. Conor McAleny capitalised on an error by David Meyler and raced through to put Everton 2 goals to the good.

Marcus Hahnemann made sure his first game ended with a clean sheet with a superb save from Sunderland's Roarie Deacon and the game ended 2-0.

Crewe Alexandra U18s 1-4 Everton U18s

Goals from Adam Thomas, Anton Forrester and Chris Long (2) handed Everton's U18 side a comfortable win against bottom-of-the-table Crewe Alexandra this morning.

Forrester (pictured above) scored his 6th goal of the season to give Everton the lead and the visitors' advantage was doubled before the break by Adam Thomas.

Chris Long, who netted a last minute equaliser in last weekend's academy derby, scored a second-half brace to put some gloss on the scoreline.

Everton U18s: Fitzgibbon, Touray, Dier, Heneghan, Pennington, Thomas, Barrow, Molyneux, Orenuga, Long, Forrester.

Subs: Roberts, Higgins, Hope.

Elsewhere, new signing George Green scored his second goal in as many games for the U16 side, although they lost 2-1 to the same opposition, Crewe Alexandra.

Everton Reserves 2-1 Aston Villa Reserves

A strong Everton second string beat Aston Villa by 2 goals to 1 at the Stobart Stadium in Widnes tonight thanks to first-half goals from Ross Barkley and Royston Drenthe.

Reserve team boss Alan Stubbs was able to call on a host of recognisable names for the fourth reserve fixture of the campaign. They included Slovakian number 1 Jan Mucha, teenage starlet Ross Barkley and new signings Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi, who had both been added to the reserve squad for a bit of added match fitness.

The full Everton starting line-up was; Mucha, Browning, Nsiala, Mustafi, Garbutt, Gueye, Baxter, Barkley, Drenthe, McAleny, Stracqualursi, with a substitutes bench of Davies, Bidwell, Forshaw, Orenuga, and Hope.

The visitors started the brighter of the two sides and went mightily close to taking the lead when Robinson hit the bar with a 25-yard effort. Villa were on top, but Everton threatened through Ross Barkley and Magaye Gueye as the young duo took the game to Villa.

Indeed, it was that combination that gave Everton the lead. Frenchman Gueye cut the ball back to Barkley, who slotted home from the edge of the area to break the deadlock.

Royston Drenthe, who made his senior Everton debut at the weekend, was heavily involved. One of his less spectacular contributions was a volley that cleared the stand behind the goal, although he did extend Everton's lead before half-time.

A swift counter-attacking move started by goalkeeper Mucha allowed Drenthe to showcase his blistering pace. Magaye Gueye grabbed his second assist of the evening, teeing up the flying Dutchman to make it 2-0.

Denis Stracqualursi, pulling on the royal blue for the first time, showed some neat hold-up play but wasn't overly threatening in terms of goalscoring. He may have to rely on his physical presence to prove a handful for Premier League defences. But the stand-out player for the home side was by far and away Ross Barkley, who, by the admission of the Aston Villa commentator Dan, was 'a class act' and 'majestic'.

Drenthe lived up to his reputation as a bit of a nutcase when, midway through the second half, he blatantly and without any hint of disguise pushed over a Villa player who had just fouled Everton striker Conor McAleny. He was shown a yellow card for his troubles. The derby may be interesting - especially given he has a bit of previous with Stevie G laa...

Aston Villa pulled one back after a shot was parried by Mucha, but Everton held on to claim their second win of the reserve league season.

Norwich City Reserves 2-1 Everton Reserves

A youthful Everton reserve side lost 2-1 to Norwich at Carrow Road on Tuesday night in their third fixture of the season.

The visitors were missing a host of players for various reasons. Both regular centre backs Shane Duffy and Shkodran Mustafi were away on international duty with Ireland U21 and Germany U19 respectively.

Nigerian duo Yakubu and Joseph Yobo, who had both featured in the second string's opening two games, were also absent form the squad. Yobo is expected to complete his protracted transfer to Fenerbahce tomorrow, whilst Yakubu could also be on his way out.

That meant that coach Alan Stubbs had a young set of players from which to choose from and the selected starting eleven was: Davies, Browning, Nsiala, Dier, Bidwell, Orenuga, Lundstram, Forshaw, Garbutt, Baxter, McAleny.

Everton took the lead just before half time when, after Norwich goalkeeper Remi Matthews had made a smart double save, midfielder John Lundstram scored from range.

In front of a crowd that included ex-Everton and current Norwich forward James Vaughan, the canaries fought hard in the second half and grabbed a deserved equaliser on 73 minutes through Richard Brindley.

Minutes later the home side won a penalty when Andrew Surman went over in the box. The same player picked himself up and took the spot-kick, but Adam Davies in the Everton goal saved the effort - just as Tim Howard had done for the senior side at Ewood Park on Saturday.

The fixture looked to be heading for a draw but Norwich stole all three points in injury time through Aaron Wilbraham and Everton left empty-handed.

Everton Reserves 0-2 Fulham Reserves

An Everton reserve side including Nigerian pair Yakubu and Joseph Yobo lost 0-2 to Fulham in their second league fixture this afternoon.

Yobo and Yakubu were both included in the starting line-up for the behind-closed-doors league fixture at Finch Farm, despite the former reported to be on the verge of signing for Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

The full Everton side was: Davies; Garbutt, Yobo, Duffy, Browning; Forshaw, Wallace, Baxter, Orenuga; Yakubu, Vellios.

Alexander Brister gave the Cottagers the lead five minutes into the second half and Courtney Harris grabbed the second shortly afterwards.

Everton failed to recover from the two quickfire goals and the match finished 0-2.

Everton Reserves: Davies, Browning (Mustafi 56), Garbutt, Duffy, Yobo, Orenuga, Baxter, Wallace, Forshaw, Vellios, Yakubu.

Fulham Reserves: Bettinelli, Passley, Smith, Arthurworrey (Dean 73), Burn, Pritchard, Brister, Harris, Donegan (Minkwitz 64), Frei, Kacaniklic.

Goals: Brister 50, Harris 55.

West Brom Reserves 2-2 Everton Reserves

Two Everton goals in the space of as many minutes earned Everton reserves a point against West Bromwich Albion in the first game of the new campaign.

Conor McAleny and Yakubu scored Everton's goals in the 73rd and 75th minutes respectively to salvage Everton a point after efforts from West Brom's James Hurst and Saido Berahino had left the visitors 2-0 down.

Goalscorer Yakubu and fellow Nigerian Joseph Yobo were the most experienced names on the Everton teamsheet, and both played the full game in the behind-closed-doors fixture.

In the opening exchanges both James Wallace and Conor McAleny had efforts saved, but the Blues fell behind on 38 minutes to a James Hurst volley.

Despite suffering that setback Everton continued to attack and further chances fell to Yakubu and Femi Orenuga, whilst Yobo went close from a free-kick.

Youngster Berahino doubled the Baggies' advantage with a 68th minute tap-in, but Everton again responded well and were rewarded shortly afterwards.

A left-wing cross from Jake Bidwell was headed home by McAleny and just two minutes later the Blues were level as Yakubu's neat finish rescued a deserved point.

West Bromwich Albion: Fulop; Jones, McAuley, Ibanez (Downing 45), Mattock (Gayle 72); Hurst (Edge 85), Thorne, Mantom, O'Neil; Sawyers, Berahino. Subs not used: Daniels, Goldsmith.

Everton: Davies; Browning, Yobo, Mustafi, Bidwell; Orenuga, Wallace, Baxter, Forshaw; McAleny, Yakubu. Subs not used: Roberts, Duffy, Nsiala, Forrester, Higgins.

Oxford United 1-0 Everton XI

As a Southern Toffee at a loose end on a Friday night, I headed along to see the 'stars of tomorrow' in action against Oxford United yesterday. The young Toffees put in a strong performance but were sunk by a fantastic James Constable volley.

Alan Stubbs' squad included five players that had joined up with the first team on the recent American tour; Ross Barkley, Magaye Gueye, Conor McAleny, Apostolos Vellios and goalkeeper Adam Davies.

After paying my £14 - yes, £14 for a reserve friendly - I was admitted into the Kassam Stadium. It was, quite frankly a bit shit. The most obvious thing about the ground was that it only had three sides, a fact that, to the continuous annoyance of the ballboys, meant that anytime a shot flew over the fence behind the goal, it would have to be found somewhere in the car park.

I only just arrived in time for kick off after getting trapped in Friday night traffic, although luckily the 60s style scoreboard told me that the line up was; Davies, Browning, Duffy, Mustafi, Garbutt, Orenuga, Forshaw, Barkley, Gueye, McAleny, Vellios.

With it being a youthful side against a full-strength League 2 side, I was expecting quite an even game. The first half proved anything but. Everton dominated proceedings with Barkley and Forshaw in centre midfield controlling the game.

I had been looking forward to seeing Barkley play for the first time, and I wasn't disappointed. Although he faded a little after the break, for the first 45 minutes he was the best player on the park. His touch, control and passing were all flawless, he always looked for a forward pass or a run and he was utterly comfortable on the ball. He was the creative hub of the team and bore likeness to an on-song Mikel Arteta.

Winger Femi Orenuga also impressed on the right-hand side. He is quick and skilful and reminded me somewhat of Shaun Wright-Phillips. On countless occasions he beat his man and delivered teasing crosses into the box.

Conor McAleny looked lively throughout and was always on the move. He was denied by the foot of the post, shortly before Magaye Gueye had warmed the keeper's gloves with a rasping free-kick. It was fair to say that Everton had the best of the first half, but Vellios' headed effort shortly before the break was another missed opportunity.

Vellios was replaced by Joao Silva at half-time, with Lundstram, Hope and Bidwell all entering the fray later in the second period. Oxford came back into the game and almost went ahead when Tyias Browning's short backpass was well dealt with under pressure by goalkeeper Adam Davies.

Everton should have taken the lead shortly afterwards with a solo counter attack from Ross Barkley. The blue-booted youngster 'did a Beckford' and ran with the ball from inside his own half towards the opposition goal. He was joined by Silva and Orenuga, but elected to try to chip the 'keeper rather than pass. His shot went just wide and that was just about the last action we saw of him as he was withdrawn by Alan Stubbs.

Oxford scored what proved to be the winner on 58 minutes - and it was a goal worthy of winning any match. The ball sat up nicely on the edge of the area and James Constable needed no invitation, sending a powerful volley into the top left hand corner. Unstoppable.

Oxford held onto the lead but it was a pleasing performance from the young Toffees, who did threaten later on in the game through Orenuga and Duffy. It ended 1-0 but as we all know the results are irrelevant in pre-season.

For me, it was an enjoyable evening and a good opportunity to see first hand tomorrow's Goodison heroes.

Remember the name - Ross Barkley.

StickyToffee Ratings: Davies 6, Browning 5, Duffy 6, Mustafi 8, Garbutt 7, Orenuga 8, Forshaw 7, Barkley 8, Gueye 6, McAleny 6, Vellios 5.

Subs: Silva 5, Bidwell 5, Hope 5, Lundstram 5

Everton U18s 4-0 Rochdale U18s

Goals from Ben Heneghan, Anton Forrester, Chris Long and Ibou Touray saw Everton U18s cruise to victory over Rochdale in a behind closed doors friendly at Finch Farm.

The Everton side contained many players that played in the wins over NY Red Bulls and Philadelphia Union on the recent tour of the US of A. The full starting line-up was; Fitzgibbon, Higgins, Johns, Heneghan, Nsiala, Barrow, Molyneux, Garbutt, Long, Forrester, Hope.

Everton took the lead when Luke Garbutt's corner was headed down by Anton Forrester into the path of Ben Heneghan who pounced to put the Blues in front.

Striker Chris Long was replaced by Femi Orenuga on the referee's order after some dangerous challenges, but did come back on later in the game. Everton led 1-0 at the break but added a further three goals in the second half through Forrester, Long and Touray.

Philadelphia Union U18s 0-2 Everton U18s

A brace from Chris Long (above) saw Everton's Academy side record a victory over their Philadelphia Union counterparts this evening, their second triumph of the US tour.

After beating the New York Red Bulls on Monday, Everton came up against the Union at PPL Park in a game billed as the appetiser for the later clash of the senior sides.

James Fitzgibbon was the man between the sticks, with a defence of Ben Heneghan, Eric Dier, Ryan Higgins and Ibou Touray. The midfield was Femi Orenuga, Tom Molyneux, Gethin Jones and Jasper Johns, with Adam Thomas and Chris Long starting in attack.

The game, split into three thirds to help the players cope with the 30+ degree heat, got off to a lively start, with Everton enjoying the lion's share of possession. Indeed, it was the visitors who took the lead when, on 13 minutes, forward Chris Long capitalised on a defensive error and finished clinically.

Long then doubled his and Everton's tally with another well-taken goal on 33 minutes, and the scores remained at 2-0 for the rest of the game.

NY Red Bulls U18s 1-3 Everton U18s

Everton's Academy side recorded an impressive victory over the New York Red Bulls in the first instalment of a two-game Stateside tour. The Everton goals came from Chris Long (above), Eric Dier and Jasper Johns.

The friendly match was held just outside Philadelphia, the city that Everton's senior squad had flown into hours previously. Academy graduate Chris Long gave Everton the lead after quarter of an hour, only for the hosts to draw level minutes later after a poorly-defended set-piece.

The ninety minutes were split into three thirds to allow the players to cope with searing 32 degree temperatures, and New York took control of the game in the second period.

Everton, however, did regain control of the match, with Femi Orenuga impressing on the wing and Eric Dier producing a goal-line clearance to keep the scores level.

In the third period Tom Molyneux's free kick was denied by the woodwork, before Eric Dier rose to power in a header and give the visitors the lead. Jasper Johns sealed the win with a brilliant long-range strike.

The Everton stars of tomorrow will now prepare for a game against their Philadelphia Union counterparts, which will take place before the senior sides meet on Wednesday.

Click here to read a full match report on evertonfc.com