Roberto Martinez praised Ross Barkley’s all round performance in Everton’s opening day 2-2 draw at Norwich City.
The midfielder blasted his first senior goal for the Blues with a stunning 25-yard effort midway through the second half.
It was Barkley’s second strike in the space of a week after he netted in England Under-21s’ 6-0 rout of Scotland on Tuesday.
And Martinez believes the youngster’s latest displays are evidence that the 19-year-old is ready to make a sustained first-team impact.
“It was a mature performance from Ross,” Martinez said. “I have seen throughout pre-season that he is ready to help the team.
“Many people will speak about the quality of his goal but that’s what he does all the time in training.
“But I am more impressed with his overall contribution to the team. His performance was full of understanding, full of hard work and the goal fitted with that performance.
“It is raw talent and we need to keep helping him.”
Barkley’s contribution was just one of a number of positives that Martinez took from his first competitive game in charge of the Blues
He continued: “I was very pleased with the chances we created. Norwich at Carrow Road are a difficult to break down.
“We could speak about the performance which I am delighted with; in the way we applied ourselves, the way we always tried to do the right thing and we never got too anxious when we were one goal down.
“We scored two magnificent goals from open play and created another two great chances against a Norwich side which is very defensively organised.
“On the other hand we conceded two goals which is probably not a reflection of the attacking intent Norwich put in and that is something we need to get stronger.”