Everton handed double injury boost as new goalscoring option may have emerged

Everton continued their preparations towards the 2023-24 season with a 2-2 draw against AC Monza behind closed doors.

The Toffees faced the Italian side away from the public eye at Goodison Park to gain extra fitness ahead of the Premier League curtain-raiser against Fulham on Saturday 12 August.

And in a double boost for Sean Dyche, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Vitalii Mykolenko both made their first outings of the summer. Everton have been carefully monitoring Calvert-Lewin after being ravaged by injuries over the past two seasons.

Mykolenko, meanwhile, has been recovering from a setback of his own and both played in the first half.

Lewis Dobbin opened the scoring for the Blues while Neal Maupay was also on target after coming off the bench at the interval.

Dobbin spent last season on loan at Derby County - where he recorded five goals and six assists in all competitions - and has looked sharp throughout the summer campaign.

Arnaut Danjuma was handed a 75-minute outing after signing on loan from Villarreal. Meanwhile, Jarrad Branthwaite was given a start after an impressive loan spell at PSV Eindhoven in 2022-23.

Amadou Onana, James Garner, Ben Godfrey, Amadou Onana, Tyler Onyango and Joao Virginia also started while youngsters iam Higgins, Reece Welch, Mackenzie Hunt and Katia Kouyate were given camoes.

Everton play their final pre-season friendly against Sporting Lisbon at Goodison Park on Saturday.