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Amid the growing clamour for him to be picked, it is easy to forget that Anthony Gordon has already made his debut for Everton.

But as the talented teenager will tell you, much has changed since then and there's plenty more for him to show.

It was in early December, two years ago, that Gordon was part of an inexperienced and youthful squad that travelled to Cyprus for a Europa League dead-rubber against Apollon Limassol.

Just 16 at the time, Gordon would replace Kevin Mirallas with two minutes remaining as Everton were headed for a 3-0 win under the watch of acting manager Craig Shakespeare.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

"Did you see my hair on it?!" he says with a laugh.

"Everything has changed since then. I've matured a lot, both as a player and as a person and hopefully everyone can recognise that."

Marco Silva has.

Earlier this season, Gordon's progress was rewarded with a place in the first-team squad at training and, other than the days before an under-23s game, the attacker works with Silva and the rest of the senior players.

The aim now is to play alongside them.

Last month, the Everton boss told the ECHO that Gordon, now 18, is "really close" to a call-up and for last week's Carabao Cup tie with Watford, he was part of the 20-man squad that travelled to the game, with the team not revealed until they were inside the home dressing room.

So what has Silva said to Gordon about his chances?

"He doesn't really speak about it," Gordon said.

"He'll give me things to work on and tell me when I'm doing right or wrong. He just wants me to progress and keep getting better at the things he thinks I should be getting better at and it's all I want as well and I know my time will come if I keep doing that.

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

"I'm just trying to chip away, keep getting better and hopefully get closer and closer. And when my chance does come, I've got to take it, that's up to me, I can't depend on anyone else or the manager, that's up to me. I've got to play well enough to stay there."

Now, Gordon can see opportunities on the horizon but in late 2017, he was aware his first-team debut was not the start of a run with the senior side but, rather, a taster.

"It was amazing for me to be around all the players at such a young age," he reflects.

"I hadn't trained with them or anything before that, it was literally straight in and so to be training out there with Morgan Schneiderlin, Kevin Mirallas and [Ademola] Lookman was unbelievable and I was just trying to soak it up and learn as much as I could because that's where I wanted to be.

"I was honest with myself, I wasn't thinking 'I hope I get picked for the next match now'.

"I was taking the experience in and trying to learn as much as I could because I'm trying to progress and get in and around the squads and build a foundation for where I want to get to. But to be around it was unbelievable."

Gordon is around it again, but on a permanent basis, and the England youth international - who signed his first professional deal with the club in March - credits some deep thinking over the summer as part of the acceleration in his development.

"At the start of the season I was training with Unsworth and started well in pre-season and then played the Wigan game," he recalls.

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"I'd played 90 minutes the day before and then went straight into that and played well. After that I was just hoping that I would be involved, and I was.

"As soon as I started training with the first-team everyday I just wanted to learn from the people around me because I'm just trying to progress and be the best version of myself.

"Over the summer it was more my mentality that changed. I had time to think about what happened the season before and I thought to myself that I am ready to take it to the next level and be the best version of myself.

"I struggled with a lack of confidence last year but I've got that back through training and working hard because the fitness levels really give you confidence when you get the ball, so it was about committing to my craft and working hard over the summer.

"I went on holiday and as soon as I was back I was training everyday until I was back in. I didn't stop."

A run of seven goals and four assists for David Unsworth's u-23s so far this season reflect the pace with which Gordon is now moving.

And working with Everton's first-team players has helped propel a blistering start to the campaign for youngster.

"It's massive," he said of the gap in quality from u-23s to senior level.

"It's the consistency of first touches, the way Premier League players keep the ball in difficult situations, it's a much higher quality and you can see how good the players are when you are playing with them everyday.

"Lucas [Digne] is quality. He's just good at everything, he is so consistent everyday and his quality on the ball is ridiculous and he's, obviously, one of the best left-backs in the world at the minute so to compete against him is only going to benefit me."

"Seamus, Delph, Baines, all the more experienced players have been really good," Gordon said, when asked who had been giving him advice.

"I suffered with a lack of confidence last year but Seamus is a player will tell you how good you actually are, so for someone like him to tell me how good he thinks I am, is massive and has given me loads more confidence.

"Baines, he's played with the likes of Pienaar and Osman, so he gives me advice on what they used to do.

"Even the smallest things, little touches, how to manipulate defenders and that helps me massively because I can take it into games and try it and if it works then it's another tool in my arsenal."

Nutmegging an opponent, however, is something Gordon was already familiar with and he says being with the first-team hasn't deterred him.

"I've always felt confident to do that, from the start, because that's the sort of player I am and if I don't do that I'm not being myself," he says with a laugh.

"I get a little bit of stick here and there when I've done it but I'll take it!"