Mark Travers: How Irish media rated Everton goalkeeper in draw vs Canada
Mark Travers made a rare appearance away from Everton in the Republic of Ireland's 1-1 draw against Canada on Saturday morning.
The 27-year-old joined the Toffees last summer but struggled to usurp Jordan Pickford between the sticks in his first season at the club.
He featured in two Carabao Cup matches before Wolves knocked out Everton in September, then failed to appear in any more games before the season ended last month.
Travers' most recent outings have been for his country, with Heimir Hallgrimsson handing him a rare start in their friendly against Canada overnight.
Everton fans may be interested to know how Travers got on as he looks to compete better with Pickford next season, and we have looked at how his performance was rated by the Irish media.
Mark Travers' performance vs Canada rated by Irish media - 'You would expect better'
Travers has also found minutes hard to come by at international level over the years due to the strong form of Caoimhin Kelleher.
He was handed his sixth cap and first start for Ireland since March 2021 as they faced World Cup-bound Canada in Montreal last night.
Fellow Toffees man Jake O'Brien scored an own goal in the 23rd minute to put the hosts into the lead, but the Boys In Green did come away with a draw after Troy Parrott scored from a rebound after his second-half penalty was saved.
The Irish Independent were positive about Travers' performance, as they gave him a 7 out of 10 and said: "Hard to fault Travers for the goal scored by Canada early on as he was unsighted. Did well to pull off a save when a slip by Collins left him exposed on 70 minutes."
Despite that positivity, Balls.ie placed more blame on the Everton stopper for the own goal and insisted that he should leave Merseyside this summer to further his career.
After giving out a 5.5 rating, they wrote: "Caught in no man’s land for the Canada opener although Troy Parrott can take the majority of the blame for the goal. You would still expect better from a keeper with his ability.
"Despite a poor first half, Travers improved in the second half, making an excellent save to deny Cyle Larin after 70 minutes and looked decent under crosses. It’s obvious that he needs to be playing regular first team football."
How was Jake O'Brien rated by Irish media?
O'Brien played much more regularly throughout last season for Everton, but in an unfamiliar right-back role rather than his preferred centre-back position.
He may well be set to return to centre-back soon, as Football Insider have revealed that Everton want to sign Sunderland's Lutsharel Geertruida this summer, who can feature on the right of a back four.
The 25-year-old played on the left of Ireland's back three in Canada, with Balls.ie giving him a rating of 6 and saying: "Gave away the corner that led to the opener, though he was unfortunate to see the ball ricochet off him and into the back of the net.
"Other than the goal, he was assured defensively, making some key clearances and blocks to deny some Canadians from scoring. O’Brien was awarded the RTE Man of the Match which did seem a tad over the top."
He was given a 6 by the Irish Independent too, who wrote: "A testing evening in Montreal for the Everton player, he didn’t know much about the own goal that was attributed to him, a tactical switch saw him see out the game as a right back, and he was relatively solid in the second half."