Everton youngster Katia Kouyate admits he is using Tom Cannon as an inspiration as he aims to attract the attention of Frank Lampard.
The 19-year-old from Manchester joined Everton’s Academy system aged eight and broke into the under-21s team two seasons ago, having featured regularly for the club's under-18s side.
Kouyate put pen-to-paper on a new two-year contract at the end of September after enjoying a taste of first-team training under Lampard and his management team during the international break earlier that month.
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Cannon, meanwhile, enjoyed a November to remember before starting December with another memorable moment. He was first handed his first-team debut during the Carabao Cup defeat to Bournemouth when he replaced Neal Maupay with nine minutes remaining.
The forward, who impressed in his first season as a fully-fledged Everton under-23 player last year, scoring eight goals in 23 appearances to finish as the team's leading marksman, then made his Premier League debut just five days later against the same opposition in the same stadium, though once again it came on a difficult day for the Blues.
In between his first appearances for the first-team, Cannon also bagged a brace as Paul Tait’s side came from behind to beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Premier League International Cup at Walton Hall Park. Cannon was then selected for the club’s trip to Australia.
After playing against Scottish giants Celtic, he then came on against Western Sydney Wanderers and went on to bag his first senior goal for the club during the 5-1 win. Cannon then fired a memorable stoppage-time winner as Everton booked their place in the last-16 of the Papa Johns Trophy with a 2-1 victory over Mansfield Town at Goodison Park.
And Kouyate admits he is using what Cannon has achieved so far this season as motivation in his own bid to earn a first-team call-up.
“Tom has made his debut in the Premier League and scored for the first-team and it inspires you," he told evertonfc.com.
“When I see him, someone who is the same age as me, achieving that, then I know there’s that same pathway for me. There’s going to be opportunities and I just need to make sure I take them.”
Everton under-21s return to action tomorrow night when they take on Lincoln City at the LNER Stadium in the last-16 of the Papa John's Trophy. And Kouyate heads into the clash on the back of a 'special' night for him and his side after they claimed a 7-2 victory over Colchester United in their last outing.
Not only was the game the first time the youngster has completed a full 90 minutes for the Blues’ under-21s, but he also bagged himself a hat-trick as Tait’s side claimed another win in the Premier League Cup.
“It’s a very special night for me,” Kouyate said on his hat-trick. “I’ve been suffering from injuries across the past two seasons, so to get my first 90 minutes and top it off with a hat-trick is massive for me. I am glad to finally find my feet, get my confidence back and play with some freedom.”
“It’s the ideal time to start performing at a level I want to be, especially coming up to Christmas," the youngster added on tomorrow night's game.
“Around this time, you want to be pushing to get into the starting XI and pushing to start getting the first-team's attention so I just need to keep going.”
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