Three Everton youngsters have been called up by England Under-18s for a friendly double-header with South Korea next month. Midfield trio Tom Davies, Antony Evans and Nathan Holland have all been included in an 18-man party for the trip by former Blues Academy coach Neil Dewsnip.
The nations will meet twice at the Icheon City Stadium, just outside of the capital Seoul, with fixtures scheduled for Friday 3 June and Sunday 5 June.
Selection caps an exciting end to the campaign for Davies, who was handed his Everton first-team debut in last month's 1-1 draw with Southampton, while Evans will be looking to build on netting his first goal for the Young Lions in March on just his second appearance for his country.
Winger Holland, an international regular, has been a key figure for the Toffees' Under-18s this term and finished his campaign by bagging a brace in last week's 4-4 draw with Manchester City.
Having played the Netherlands, Austria and Republic of Ireland this season, Dewsnip now wants his squad to sample non-European opposition before they aim to step-up to Under-19s level next term.
“We’ve spoken about giving the players a really good, all-round education across their whole England pathway from Under-15s up to the first team, which would involve European, American, African and, in this case, Asian opposition,” said Dewsnip. “We’re taking the boys to Asia as part of the England DNA philosophy and it’ll be a different style and a different culture for them, so our players have to learn to deal with it in the hope that one day they’ll be doing it for the first team.
“That’s why we feel it’s worthwhile going so far on this occasion.
“We came across them at the Under-17 World Cup in Chile last year and we drew 0-0 and found it very difficult to break them down.
“They were very structured and disciplined and very hard working, and it was a real challenge for us.
“They were quite happy to let us have a lot of the ball and dominate possession but they were a real threat on the counter attack.”
England Under-18s
Goalkeepers: Alfie Whiteman (Tottenham Hotspur), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United)
Defenders: Trent Arnold (Liverpool), Ro-Shaun Williams (Manchester United), Easah Suliman (Aston Villa), Hayden Coulson (Middlesbrough), Jay DaSilva (Chelsea), Cameron Humphreys (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Adetayo Edun (Fulham), Tom Davies (EVERTON), Herbie Kane (Liverpool), Antony Evans (EVERTON), Nathan Holland (EVERTON)
Forwards: Marcus Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur), Rushian Hepburn Murphy (Aston Villa), Andre Green (Aston Villa), Lukas Nmecha (Manchester City), Isaac Buckley-Ricketts (Manchester City)
