Everton boss Rafa Benitez is happy for Tyler Onyango to continue his progress in the U23s.
Academy product Onyango has recovered from ankle fracture suffered in April and has played twice for Everton's under-23s in recent weeks.
Benitez wants the midfielder to continue playing with David Unsworth's side and training with the first-team at Finch Farm, and says it is too soon to expose Onyango to senior football.
"It would be easy for me to talk about young players and bring young players in," he said.
"If you lose one game, I could put in three young players, the fans would say 'oh fantastic'.
"But you have to manage a team with your experience. I was in the academy at Real Madrid and in charge of a lot of academies at different clubs, so I know what it means to be a young player going to the first-team.
"Some of them are physically and mentally ready and some need more time. At the same time, when you are losing games it is not the time to change everything, because maybe it will be worse for the young player
"He is a lad that has been injured for three or four months, he has the potential. He has to keep training with his team, keep playing games with his team and training with the first team sometimes and we will decide when he is ready.
"If you want a clear answer if he is ready? I think it is still a little bit early for him but he has the potential, yes, and we want to manage his potential and not send him in too early and then people could say 'he's not as good' so it is important we give him the chance when he is fully ready. I don't want to send the player in too early if it's not necessary."
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