Everton's badge seen on the side of the Hill Dickinson Stadium
Everton's badge seen on the side of the Hill Dickinson Stadium
Molly Darlington/Getty Images
Accrington Stanley boss Joe Doolan has praised the qualities of Everton talent Joel Catesby, who he feels is very good in the air in terms of his size and added that he is nice in the pockets.
The 19-year-old winger has impressed for Everton’s development sides and put pen to paper on his first professional contract in 2024.
In search of regular first-team football and to aid his development, Everton’s hierarchy decided a loan spell would benefit Catesby.
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Everton loaned out Issac Heath to Accrington Stanley last season, leaving Doolan happy with the left winger’s performances and following his departure, this summer they again arrived at the Toffees’ doorstep with an offer to take Catesby on a season-long loan.
Catesby has yet to nail down a place in Doolan’s starting lineup but has featured in their two EFL Trophy games and most recently impressed Doolan with his display against Salford City.
Doolan pointed out that he deployed the Everton loanee in a wing-back role despite being a winger and added that later in the match they decided to get him further up the pitch so that he could play his natural game without needing to defend much.
The Accrington boss stressed that Catesby, despite being 5ft 10inch, is very good in the air and highlighted that he can operate beautifully in the pocket spaces.
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2025–26 13th
2024–25 13th
2023–24 15th
2022–23 17th
2021–22 16th
When asked about whether the game will be a learning curve for young players in the squad, Doolan told Accrington Stanley’s in-house media: “It is. We asked Joel Catesby [to play out of position].
“He played wing-back, but we played a little bit lopsided with it, so we tried to push him on because he is more of a winger and we don’t want him defending that much.
“So he forces his wing-back, as it was, to go the other way and then we put him up top, to be honest.
“It is not so much of physicality, young Joe, but he is good in the air for his size and he is strong for his size as well.
“But he plays in the pockets nice, so we wanted him there.”
The 19-year-old has featured for only 42 minutes in League Two so far and Catesby will be determined to break into Doolan’s starting lineup sooner rather than later.
He was an unused substitute for Accrington in their 0-0 draw away at Oldham Athletic in League Two on Saturday.