Derby 0-0 Everton u23 - Premier League International Cup

David Unsworth watched on from the stands as Everton Under-23s played out a goalless draw in their penultimate Premier League International Cup group fixture.

Having returned to the setup after a caretaker spell in charge of the first team, the boss of the young Blues was at Pride Park, with his assistant John Ebbrell and coach Franny Jeffers in the dugout as Everton took on a Derby side they had beaten 1-0 in Premier League 2 back in September.

The game started slowly, with both sides trying to work the other out, but on 10 minutes, Nathangelo Markelo kept pace with Offrande Zanzala as the forward broke into the area, with Markelo doing superbly to put him off his finish with a sliding challenge.

Two minutes later, Everton had their own chance as David Henen broke away down the left-hand side but his low cross evaded Bassala Sambou. As the first period wore on, Everton forced Derby goalkeeper Kelle Roos into three good saves within the space of 10 minutes.

The first came from Henen, which was followed up by a good low save after Antony Evans had picked out Sambou who directed the ball goalwards with a volley. The best of the three, however, was from Evans as tried his luck from outside the area, but Roos was equal to it.

Everton made a change at half-time with Anton Donkor coming on to replace Josh Bowler, with the substitute winning a corner early on in the second half. From there, Dennis Adeniran managed to stoop low to get his head onto a whipped delivery from Liam Walsh, with Roos again making a good save, stretching to his left.

The best chance of the game fell to Garbutt in the 55th minute, however. It was one full-back to the other as Evans crossed all the way to the back post, with Garbutt waiting to smack his volley into the ground and back off the bar.

The Blues tried to change things up with forward Boris Mathis replacing Sambou, but the game finished goalless at Pride Park, meaning Everton have taken a point from two games in the competition so far ahead of a home match against Dinamo Zagreb Under-23s on Friday 15 December (7pm).