Everton centre-back Michael Keane has paid tribute to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, claiming that the forward ‘has been a big player’ for the Toffees during the 2017-18 campaign.

No individual has featured on more occasions for Everton this season than Calvert-Lewin, with the 21-year-old making 41 appearances in all competitions for the Merseyside club.

The England Under-21 international has struggled for regular football in recent weeks due to the presence of Cenk Tosun, Wayne Rooney and Oumar Niasse.

That said, he has scored eight times in all competitions this season, and Keane has said that the former Sheffield United youngster is improving with each passing week.

Keane told Everton’s official website:

“Dom has really come on this season. He is a great lad who works really hard. He is always doing extra and you can see he wants to improve.

“He is really reliable when he plays and always works so hard for the team. He has a few attributes some of the other lads do not possess, so he brings a lot to the team and has been a big player for us this season.

“He is definitely getting tougher to face in training. He is not shy of a challenge or putting his body in and he will try to knock you over. And he has probably learned to use his body a bit more from playing games.”

Calvert-Lewin was on the scoresheet for England Under-21s in their 2-1 win over Ukraine Under-21s at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night.

Everton, who sit ninth in the table, will look to make it three straight Premier League wins when they welcome league leaders Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

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