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Leighton Baines has opened up on his role as a more experienced head in the Everton dressing room and revealed a behind-the-scenes project he worked on over the summer.

The defender put pen-to-paper on a new one-year contract with the Blues in the summer to provide competition for Lucas Digne and taking him into his 13th campaign with the club.

The left-back is now one of the most experienced players in an Everton squad which is only getting younger under the transfer strategy of Marco Silva and Marcel Brands .

However, the role of a mentor is not one the 34-year-old tends to think about too much.

"When it comes to young players, it's not something we really think about, the mentoring thing," Baines told volume three of the St Domingo shirtzine.

"But Tom [Davies] is very cool, I love Tom and his personality. He's his own man. He's strong-minded as well, much more comfortable within himself than I was at that age.

"Tom doesn't need me to progress. It's like all of the young lads coming through, you have to let it happen naturally. There will be times when you will give young players a little boost whether it's on the training ground or the pitch.

"It's a funny one, I came through with the opposite. It was a lot of tough love.

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

"It's not just changed on the pitch for the players. Off it, there are different pressures with social media and being in the public spotlight more.

"But at the same time, I think there's more scope to explore other things away from the game, while still being dedicated to your profession."

Baines also lifted the lid on a behind-the-scenes project he worked on over the summer.

The defender is well known to be interested in photography, but took it to a new level recently by producing a book which he handed out to other members of the Everton squad.

The Blues left back added: "I started playing around with some film cameras about three years ago and then, when we were moving around form A to B on the bus or train, I was just taking pictures.

"Over time I had all these pictures that started to mean something more so I actually put a book together just for the players over the summer.

"There was a handful of copies of this book which covers pre-season where we have a lot of downtime between the tough sessions. Stuff around the training ground, games, getting there on the bus, when we arrive...

"In the 10-15 minutes when the mascots are coming in and people are sorting their tickets, you can grab a few pictures.

"It's nice giving the lads a book when we all come back from the off-season. They all seemed to enjoy it and quite a lot of them wanted to show their parents and families."