Everton starlet sends perfect message after Abu Dhabi training camp snub
Martin Sherif was Everton's back-up striker through February but returned to the Under-21s with a bang on Friday
Young Everton striker Martin Sherif provided the perfect response to dropping out of the first team squad. The forward has spent most of the past month as the Blues’ second-choice striker after injuries to Youssef Chermiti, Armando Broja and Dominic Calvert-Lewin savaged David Moyes’ forward options.
That role extended to the midweek draw at Brentford - Sherif’s sixth consecutive game on the senior squad’s bench.
But the return to fitness of Chermiti and the improving condition of Broja led to Sherif returning to Merseyside after the match in west London on Wednesday - following which Moyes took a group of first team players to the United Arab Emirates for warm weather training.
READ MORE: Armando Broja injury boost for Everton after David Moyes transfer gambleREAD MORE: Search for the new Landon Donovan starts as Everton are set for another USA tripSherif was therefore available to Paul Tait’s Under-21s on Friday as he took his side to Aston Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground for a Premier League Two game. And the teenager took his chance to again show his ability at that level - slotting in from a tight angle to give Everton a 2-1 win.
The goal came moments after Omari Benjamin grabbed his eighth of the season as the young Blues fought back to win from behind. Isaac Heath, another youngster who had been part of recent Premier League squads, also started against Villa.
After the game, Tait said: "(Going a goal down) sparked us into life. I thought it would give us the kick up the backside that we needed, and it did. We got the momentum after they had scored.
"The possession was better and we turned it over in good places to start creating chances. With the likes of Coby [Ebere], Martin and Omari on the front line we can be a real threat.
"We’ve drawn a lot of games, often when we’ve been leading, and we’ve done some training scenarios around that, but there is no better place to put it into practice than out there during a game."