U21 - Everton 2-0 Chelsea - highlights

David Unsworth praised the budding centre-back partnership of Mason Holgate and Callum Connolly following the Under-21s’ 2-0 win over Chelsea.

Connolly's header lead to the opener, setting the Toffees on their way to back-to-back league wins.

Holgate then sealed the victory in second-half added time, stooping low to head home a cross after a clever corner routine involving Kieran Dowell and Harry Charsley.

It was the second time Holgate and Connolly had been partnered together since the latter returned from a one-month loan with Barnsley - and Unsworth says he has been encouraged with the way the two have taken to playing together.

“I thought Callum and Mason looked like a good partnership, they complemented each other very well and it’s an area we’ve been working on in the last week or so since Callum returned from his loan,” he told evertontv.

“It’s beginning to look like a really good partnership and I’m delighted for them to get the clean sheet as a reward.

“On top of that it was good to see Mason get the second goal and Callum possibly score as well, it’s a debatable one in the dressing room because Antony Evans is trying to claim it, but I’ll leave them to sort that out themselves!”

Chelsea had not suffered a league defeat since the first week of the calendar year, but were dominated throughout at the Merseyrail Community Stadium in Southport.

And boss Unsworth declared himself pleased with the high intensity shown by his players from the very first whistle.

He added: “It was a great performance from start to finish. Our lads were out of the traps really quickly, we played some good football and I said at half-time we just needed to carry on as we were because I knew the goals would come.

“We created some great opportunities in the first half. We hit the crossbar, hit the post and we perhaps could have done better with a little bit more composure inside the penalty box. But it was a very testing surface that tests your technique.

“They got their just rewards in the end with two well-taken goals. We dominated and we thoroughly deserved the points.”