Everton boss Sean Dyche is delighted with the progress of Vitalii Mykolenko.
The Ukraine defender scored in victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Dyche said, My belief is defend first, that's your job, that's why you're called a defender. The game has slightly changed but I always liked defenders who can defend and he certainly can.
I think he's now starting to show signs of what he can do going forwards as well. He can play, he's got pace and he's strong.
His true fitness if you like, his Premier League fitness, is improving all the time as is his mentality towards it. He deserves the credit he gets and I think he's enjoying it."