'There is a long story behind it' - Jack Harrison expresses happiness at Everton after 'complicated' Aston Villa transfer move

Jack Harrison revealed that he thought he’d be lining up again for Everton Under-21s at Burton Albion this week instead of making his first team debut.

But the summer signing insists he’s happy at the Blues after the “complicated situation” that saw Aston Villa make a late move to try and hijack his loan switch from Leeds United.

The 26-year-old made his first senior appearance for Everton in their 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Villa 24 hours after the Blues youngsters were beaten 2-0 in the EFL Trophy against League One opponents - a low-key assignment in front of less than 500 fans that he earlier thought he’d be featuring in.

Harrison told the ECHO: “I think coming out to this stadium where there’s a great atmosphere and they’re a difficult side to play against it was really challenging. To have 45 minutes last Friday (he played in the U21s' 2-1 home win over Norwich City) and then building it up again here was a good challenge.

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“I was really excited for the opportunity to get back out on a pitch like that and play football at Premier League level again as it’s been a while. There was some talk of me playing in the Under-21s game on Tuesday night at Burton but after a conversation with the gaffer at the start of the week I found out I’d be playing on Wednesday and I was really grateful for that opportunity and happy we could get a result.

“I’m still not at the match sharpness that I’d like to be at but I thought it was a nice building block after Friday to step up against Premier League opposition and get a few more minutes in the tank. I think