David Unsworth praised 'terrific' Lewis Warrington and Charlie Whitaker after making their full Everton under-23 debuts in the 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers earlier this month.
Warrington, 18, and Whitaker, 17, have both been involved in the under-18 FA Youth Cup run to the quarter-final this season where Everton have dumped out Wigan Athletic, Manchester City and Chelsea.
And the duo were named in the u-23s starting line up for the first time under manager Unsworth against Rovers, with forward Whitaker scoring the second and Warrington catching the eye in a screening midfield role.
Unsworth told the ECHO: "Lewis Warrington and Charlie Whitaker making their full debuts was terrific.
"They've both been outstanding in the u-18s and we wanted to give them an opportunity because we've had that many players injured and unavailable, we have had a really small squad.
"But I thought they were terrific and I'm very, very proud of them."
Whitaker started the u-23 defeat at West Ham United on Monday while Warrington replaced him as a substitute on the hour mark.
Everton are seventh in the Premier League 2 table with three matches remaining.
