Under-23s To Step Up Pre-Season With Bamber TestUnsworth's side travel to Sir Tom Finney Stadium on Wednesday night.
Everton Under-23s will play their first pre-season game on home soil when they take on upwardly mobile non-League side Bamber Bridge on Wednesday night (7.30pm).
David Unsworth’s young Blues travelled home on Sunday from a seven-day training camp in La Manga, where they launched their preparations for the new campaign with a game against Coventry City.
Manager Unsworth declared himself “delighted” with his players’ “fitness, attitude and quality” following a week in Spain which saw his side’s training load increase after they had returned from their summer break at the start of July.
The Toffees overcame a slow start last Friday to put the wind up a Coventry side one week further down the line in their pre-season work than Unsworth’s team.
Everton ultimately went down 3-1, having trailed 2-0 at the break, but will be aiming to pick up from where they left off against the League One team when they meet Bamber Bridge.
The Lancashire club, where former Blues midfielder Jamie Milligan is now playing his football, won promotion last term from Northern Premier League Division One North.
They finished fourth before successfully negotiating the play-offs, winning the final against Prescot Cables 1-0, to secure a berth in the Northern Premier League Premier Division for 2018/19.
Everton Under-23s, who were this week handed prestige ties with illustrious European duo Bayern Munich and Benfica in the forthcoming season’s Premier League International Cup, kick off their Premier League 2 campaign next month.
They are scheduled to face Stockport County and Chester FC before the end of July and wrap up their warm-up fixtures against their Manchester United counterparts on August 4.
“We purposely played our first game later this year, so we could get even more fitness into the players in the first two weeks back,” said Unsworth.
“Now we have a run of games which we are looking forward to.
“We have analysed the week’s training in Spain and are delighted with what we have seen and how the players applied themselves.”
Entry to Wednesday’s match at Bamber Bridge’s Sir Tom Finney Stadium is £5 for adults and £3 concessions. If accompanied by an adult, children under-12 will be admitted free, while 12-16 year olds will pay £1.
