Marco Silva: 'Level of football in Everton, ATV Irdning friendly was low'

Marco Silva has conceded that the level of football in the pre-season friendly between Everton and ATV Irdning was "really low".

The Toffees ran out 22-0 winners over the Austrian minnows on Saturday, with four players scoring three or more goals apiece.

Everton were criticised for choosing to play a friendly against a team of significantly lower quality, but Silva insists that the level of football was not important.

"Of course it is not easy to analyse the game," Silva told the Liverpool Echo.

"Of course, we expected a different level, the level was really low but most important for me – and it's what I told the players before the match – it is not important the level of our opponent.

"Next week we will have a tough week and the level of our opponents will grow but the most important thing today was to be serious every time.

"They enjoyed moments of the game but, or course, as the result was getting worse for our opponent the game got a little bit slower but it is normal in these type of situations.

"We can analyse some of today but also all week. The players worked hard, they showed me what they want and the desire to play in our team."

Everton's next pre-season friendly is against Bury on July 18.