Everton midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes it will be difficult to leave teenager Harrison Armstrong out of the team given his current form, after the Blues opened their 2026/27 Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday.
Dewsbury-Hall put Everton ahead on 42 minutes, with Thierno Barry heading in a second on 53 minutes to secure the three points against the UEFA Conference League winners. The midfielder was pleased with the start, saying: "It was a good start, a win, clean sheet – we can’t ask for much more. It was a tough game, they’re a good team, we probably rode our luck at some points in the game."
Dewsbury-Hall's ambition for the season
Following his £25million transfer from Chelsea last August, Dewsbury-Hall scored eight Premier League goals last season – a career high. He said of his opening-day strike: "It was all right, a bit of shank wasn’t it? No, a good finish. I know I have that quality, I’ll be honest I work on it every day, every week, so when I’m in that position I only had one thought in my mind and as soon as I hit it I thought ‘It’s got a chance’ and luckily it went in."
He added: "My personal ambition is to do better than last year, as simple as that. I had a good year but I want to be better, I know I can be better. I’m happy to get off to a good start and happy the team won the first game, which we haven’t for a couple of years, so it lifts the mood a bit and gets us going into the week feeling confident."
Praise for Armstrong and Hackney
Dewsbury-Hall, playing as Everton's most advanced central midfielder, had a new-look partnership behind him, with Idrissa Gueye having left the club and James Garner only just returning from groin surgery. He praised home-grown Harrison Armstrong and Hayden Hackney, who made his Premier League debut.
He said: "Harrison was exceptional today. He plays well beyond his years and he has that Everton spirit, which I love, and he has an engine on him, he runs all day. If he keeps playing like that it will be hard to take it out of the team. I thought Hayden (Hackney) as well, on his Premier League debut, was exceptional."
Cup ambitions after league slump
Everton finished 13th in the Premier League last season after failing to win any of their last seven matches, missing out on European qualification. Chief executive Angus Kinnear said last week: "We have definitely had discussions with ownership and with David [Moyes] about how we use the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup to give something for the fans to really cheer and get behind and be proud of."
Dewsbury-Hall echoed that message: "We have another game in midweek and we want to go deep in a cup competition this year, that’s a message we’ve had, and hopefully we do that." Everton kick off their Carabao Cup campaign away to Preston North End on Wednesday (8pm kick-off).
