Everton boss Sørensen not surprised to see former loanee Park shine at Manchester City | OneFootball

Everton boss Brian Sørensen says that he is not surprised to see former loanee Jess Park shine at Manchester City.

The 22-year-old spent last season on loan at Everton. She scored three goals in 17 Barclays Women’s Super League appearances for The Blue Girls.

Everton will come up against Park when they face Manchester City this weekend and manager Sørensen admits that there was never any doubt that the midfielder would become a top star.

“There’s no surprise, I think she was just waiting for the chance,” Sørensen said when discussing Park’s form in the pre-match press conference. “It’s not good that Jill [Roord] got injured but she got her chance and even in the games that she played before that, she also showed what an amazing player she is.

“I am really happy for her, there was no doubt that she would succeed. She impressed against Chelsea but that’s why we also tried playing her central last season because we felt that she could contribute more than being an out-and-out winger. She has good vision, a big engine and she is very suited to playing in small areas. We started her wide, played her in a pocket and then as a central midfielder.

“We are not looking forward to playing against her tomorrow but it is what it is. I’m glad to see her doing well.”

Everton have a rotten record against the Barclays Women’s Super League’s top four sides, however, Sørensen is still looking forward to the test at The Joie Stadium this weekend.

He said “We love these games, I love playing against City because it is a team that want to play football and want to press us. We are trying to be good playing against that. You need high-level skills but we are a team and we try to utilise each other’s strengths.

“I love playing against City because there’s more space due to them pressing us and going at us. It’s going to be the third time that we’ve played against City this season but I’m really looking forward to it. They are massive favourites but we will go out there and do our best.”

Everton’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester City kicks-off at 12pm on Saturday afternoon.