Wednesday 2 August 2017 22:55, UK
Summer signing Jordan Pickford will make his competitive debut for Everton on Thursday night.
And the goalkeeper could be joined in the line-up by Wayne Rooney, who has been passed fit for the Europa League second-leg qualifying game against Ruzomberok in Slovakia.
The Toffees hold a slender 1-0 advantage thanks to Leighton Baines' strike at Goodison Park last week in a fixture that saw Pickford start on the bench.
However, boss Ronald Koeman has confirmed that the England U21 international, who arrived from Sunderland for £30m this summer, will start on this occasion.
"We know we need to make decisions on the team and it is not only about the goalkeeper," said Koeman.
"It's still the pre-season but we can't call it pre-season because we're playing in an important game tomorrow. Pickford will start the game."
There had been concerns over Rooney's availability to feature but Koeman was able to quash any doubts surrounding the 31-year-old's fitness.
"Wayne had some groin issues in the past few days but he trained normally yesterday and this morning," Koeman added.
"He is fit to play tomorrow."
Koeman has no plans to allow Everton to sit on what they have got, even though a goalless draw would see them advance past the first qualifying hurdle.
"We always try to play offensive football," he said. "We don't come here to defend the result, it's not the way I like and it's not the best way to win the game.
"Maybe Ruzomberok need to attack more but they did a good job and it is the second leg of this round, so we will see tomorrow."
