Phil Jagielka believes that Everton's young players will thrive in Saturday's Merseyside derby against Liverpool.
The Toffees go into the clash at Goodison Park off the back of a 1-0 success at Crystal Palace, which was their first victory of 2015.
Jagielka believes that the younger members of the side have impressed in recent weeks.
When asked if he felt the responsibility of being a senior player, Jagielka told the Daily Post: "There is a bit of responsibility. When I was coming through you had your Ossies (Leon Osman), Hibbos (Tony Hibbert) and Tim Howard who had played in a lot of derby games.
"These people can draw upon past experience and we now have people – me, Bainesy (Leighton Baines), Tim if available - who have been around for five, six years plus and played in a lot of derbies to try to give encouragement to the young lads.
"But they're such good people and great lads, they don't particularly need it, we're there if we need it but I'd be lying if I tell you I had to babysit them at all. They get on with things really easily and it's a testament to the young lads we've got."
Jagielka scored a dramatic late equaliser to secure a point for Everton at Anfield when the sides last met in September.
Steven Toplis
