Marco Silva has admitted a decision hasn't yet been made over the short-term future of Everton youngster Lewis Gibson.
The defender was given a number of opportunities to impress over the course of pre-season and grabbed his first chance of senior football with both hands.
The youngster capped off a string of great defensive displays with a goal against Mainz last month as he dealt with his step up well - but wasn't involved in the most recent match against Werder Bremen on Saturday
Fellow Everton U23s star Nathan Broadhead secured a loan to Burton Albion on Friday, but Silva admits any similar decision on Gibson hasn't been made yet.
The boss told the ECHO : "He [Gibson] needs to work more and more with us to improve, to be more aggressive.
"He has had good matches during pre-season and we are happy with him.
"Until now, we didn't decide anything about Lewis.
"Let's see if he can stay with us, working with us all season playing in the U23s or with another solution.
"We have the next few days to decide."
The manager also confirmed that James McCarthy can still leave Everton before Thursday's deadline.
He added: "It's one possibility of course. Let's see what the decision will be for the next few days.
"For this match I went with other players, they worked better during the week and they are more ready to play and to help the team."
