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It’s a warm evening at Chorley Town’s Victoria Park stadium and David Unsworth is in high spirits.

Chorley-born, the former Everton defender and current under-23 manager is in a constant flurry of conversation. It feels like everybody here knows him.

Affable and with a huge, beaming smile, it’s impossible not to like Unsworth. He poses for a photo with a boy in the new strip and ruffles his hair playfully.

Professionally, there’s no reason why the 45-year-old should not be happy.

A Premier League Cup was added to Everton and Unsworth’s second Premier League 2 title in three years at the end of last season.

He has helped Jonjoe Kenny, Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and several other starlets make the progression to first-team football either at Goodison Park or on loan.

But Unsworth knows there is no time to rest on his laurels or congratulate himself on a job well done.

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“It makes me very proud,” he told the ECHO when asked about the young starlets being handed a chance by Marco Silva in pre-season.

“I seen a write-up of Nathan Broadhead the other day who’s doing very well with the first-team.

“I’m very proud. It’s what we expect. It’s the job. But as soon as they fly-the-nest you’re moving onto the next player, the next signing, or somebody who you’re trying to develop in another way.”

It’s a pertinent term.

Parents dread - or, perhaps, look forward to - the day their own children fly the nest and Unsworth is a father figure to most of this squad.

At the end of the game he is embroiled in jokes, hugs and conversation with his team.

(Image: Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

He briefly checks his phone for a minute and looks up, smiling. One starlet has informed him that his girlfriend delivered their newborn baby that evening.

“Great news, amazing,” Unsworth says, genuinely delighted.

It would be unfair to call the new crop of under-23s babies but they will not be as experienced as the team that completed an unprecedented double last term.

Joao Virginia, the goalkeeper, has joined Reading on loan while Lewis Gibson is involved in Silva’s first-team pre-season.

Morgan Feeney is eyeing a loan move, Brendan Galloway joined Luton Town, top-scorer Bassala Sambou left on a free and both Antony Evans and Fraser Hornby could also depart temporarily .

CLICK HERE for an exclusive interview with Bassala Sambou surely before he left Everton on a free transfer

This will mean Unsworth has a serious rebuild on his hands and he admits it will not necessarily be a seamless progression.

“It’s definitely a massive work in progress,” he added as the sun set in Chorley. “It doesn’t come overnight.

“The effort and application to work hard and to give their best has never been a problem with this group.

“The work is getting done. The volume is huge what these lads are putting in and I’m very happy with that. It’s work that has to be done because it’s a new group.”

Unsworth also has a challenge for the new crop of talent.

With loan moves and transfers still to be completed before the start of the season, more than half of the side that began the game at Chorley - including senior stars Matthew Pennington and Muhamed Besic - could leave the club for pastures new .

And the manager called upon the youngsters that fill their boots to demonstrate their character if and when they are handed a chance.

“This group of players, historically quite young players, are usually quite quiet and quite shy,” Unsworth continued. “We speak about personality all the time with this group.

“You have to produce. As soon as you step over the white line you have to impose yourself on the game and have an influence on the game and that comes by having a big personality.

“That’s really important if you want to be a successful footballer.

“You’ve got to learn fast in this team. There’s always someone who will take your place, always somebody who wants a game and wants to take that opportunity.

“When they do get that opportunity it’s really important to take it.”

It’s beginning to darken. The crowds file out, satisfied by photos with Besic and Unsworth and other young stars.

Families reconvene with players, showered and smartened, as conversations take place around us.

Unsworth rocks back in the dugout and considers the season ahead.

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A new campaign, a new challenge. It’s the ultimate cliche.

But Unsworth and Everton have been here before. The hard-work will continue, the running, the sessions, the information from staff.

And listening to the former England international speak, so will the success, the first-team debuts and the loan moves because he is in no mood to let standards slip.

“It’s a forever changing team and that’s okay,” he reflects, looking out beyond the perimeter and at the scenic fields that surround Victory Park.

“It’s part of the role and it’s something you expect. You get used to it.

“We just have to make sure these lads filling in who are maybe a bit younger are up to the level very quickly.”