Callum Connolly made an instant impression on Wigan Athletic fans when he scored two headed goals to beat to beat Burton Albion on Saturday. The expertise with which Connolly leaped for those headers suggested he is a player the opposition will have to mark closely when Latics have set pieces. Connolly can play anywhere across the back four or in midfield. Last season he scored seven goals for Everton’s under 21 side.

The 19 year old comes from Litherland, five miles north of the Liverpool city centre. An Everton academy graduate, he has represented England at under 17, under 18, under 19 and under 20 levels. Roberto Martinez gave him his first team debut in mid-April 2016 when he came on as a substitute for Seamus Coleman after 60 minutes against Southampton. Prior to that he had been on a month’s loan at Barnsley where he made three starts in League 1.

Connolly has been signed on loan until the end of the season. His contract at Everton runs until the summer of 2019. On signing for Latics he commented that “I got the call up on Thursday morning, I shot down the motorway, had a couple of days of preparation with the lads and settled in well – the lads and gaffer have been great with me.The gaffer was at United last season and he has seen a lot of me in the last couple of seasons and liked me so I am just glad that I performed on my debut. I would like to think of myself as a versatile and hard-working player who just wants to do well for the team.”

In order to learn more about Connolly we contacted Lyndon Lloyd of Everton fan site Toffeeweb  (http://toffeeweb.com/).

Here’s over to Lyndon:

Regarding Connolly, only those who regularly watch the U23 games will know much about him because he’s only made that one first-team appearance to date. 

 He is certainly highly regarded in what is a very good crop of emerging youngsters at Everton, though, and he didn’t look out of place at all when he came on as a substitute early in the second half of our draw with Southampton last season.

 Everton were in the middle of a difficult period under Roberto Martinez so they weren’t the easiest circumstances in which to make your debut… although the way the senior side was playing, it was actually refreshing to see some young blood come in and put in a good shift!

 Though he’s primarily a defender or defensive midfielder, he does have an eye for goal (he scored a few for Everton U21s and U23s over the past couple of years) as he proved in his debut for you. Hopefully there’s more where that came from and he can prove really useful to Wigan between now and the end of the season.