Rafa Benitez has offered a hint towards Lewis Dobbin's future opportunities as he anticipates an "easy" game this weekend against Watford.
The young striker has been on the bench for the senior side over their recent few matches and got onto the pitch as a substitute for clashes against Norwich City and Manchester United earlier this month.
The 18-year-old is still waiting to play from the start for the first team, but his manager has often made a point of how well he is working in training.
The Blues boss mentioned that he has increased options in that area of the pitch thanks to the return from injury of Richarlison, but believes that Dobbin will be closer to more minutes in "easy" games.
Benitez told his pre-match press conference: "Let me make a joke, it's around two metres closer to the touchline, so he's [Dobbin] very close!
"But no I'm really pleased with him. He's training really well, he's doing well.
"Rondon is getting fitter, Richarlison is available. We have the options with Alex, Gordon, Townsend, Demarai - so we have options there.
"It's not that we want to send him to play games, and then after he's not doing well we start criticising a young player.
"He's training well with us so he's close. How close? If we have a very difficult game, in theory he cannot be the first choice if you have Richarlison for example. If it's an easy game, maybe he can.
"I'm sure that he will have his opportunity if he continues working as he is now."
Everton welcome Watford to Goodison Park for their next match on Saturday afternoon.
When asked if he considered that an "easy" match, the manager responded: "Yeah, it's an easy game, he [Dobbin] has more chances for sure."
The young striker was back on the scoresheet for David Unsworth's under-23s at the beginning of this week as they beat Leeds United 4-2 at Southport.
