Youssef Chermiti is taking on extra training drills in a bid to provide competition to frontline Everton strikers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Beto.

Coaches at Finch Farm have been pleased with the efforts of the teenager, who they acknowledge is undertaking a development programme influenced by the club’s tough circumstances.

If the squad was stronger then a loan placement would have been seriously considered in January, when there was a market for his services.

But he was kept on Merseyside in case he was needed to step up and the Portugal youth international is now showing signs of progress at a time when those in front of him are struggling to find goals. Optimism over his growth will provide a boost as Everton continues to struggle for squad depth.

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Asked by the ECHO about the progress of Chermiti, Sean Dyche recently offered an insight into how the club’s situation had impacted plans for him.

The Blues boss said: “It has been really difficult for Youssef in the sense that he comes in with a different viewpoint but he is still a young player. He actually would normally be playing lots of development games, possibly on loan, to continue his development. Quite obviously we had to change the financial guidelines of the club and therefore we had to work with a skinnier squad so we can’t afford to go out and develop in that sense, so we have got to develop him in house.”

That has meant adjusting Chermiti's workload amid additional drills to help him develop in Halewood, with efforts focusing on issues such as strength and conditioning, diet and finishing.

There has also been a shift towards experience with the club’s youth set-up. Dyche told the ECHO: “We are trying to give him minutes when we can to keep him moving forwards. That is part of it. Ordinarily a player like him would be more the development programme side of what we do but he is almost being literally fast-tracked because we are short on bodies, we all know that.”

That fast-track approach may be yielding rewards. Chermiti, who signed from Sporting Lisbon in the summer, scored twice in a run out with Everton Under-21s on Monday that might hint at Dyche considering him for a greater role in the first team. The 19-year-old picked up crucial minutes alongside Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson as the academy side earned a 3-1 win over Fulham in a game used to assess the fitness of several players on the fringes of the first team. Chermiti was also sent off for two yellow cards in that game but is available for the first team this weekend.

His strikes were a welcome source of positivity for a team that has struggled in front of goal across two and a half months without a Premier League win. Injuries, fixture congestion and the quality of opposition have made that period particularly challenging.

Against that backdrop, Calvert-Lewin has gone 20 matches without a goal and Beto has not scored since December.

Chermiti has always been seen as a development signing since his arrival in the summer and that remains the case. But his brace at Walton Hall Park is a timely one. With attacking options on the bench limited by injuries to Lewis Dobbin and Arnaut Danjuma, Chermiti has picked a good time to impress. He is unlikely to compete with his more experienced team-mates for a starting place this season, but opportunities from the bench could open up to him.

Dyche concluded: “We are trying to blood him accordingly, it is a lot to ask when you are young, especially when you are a centre forward and playing in the Premier League, it is a lot to ask so it is giving him enough to get a feel of it and be around it but not where it is too much.”