Everton FC News: ROSS BARKLEY need only look around the senior dressing room at Everton for the perfect people to ask for advice on dealing with being the subject of endless speculation.

The 17-year-old has only started three games for David Moyes first team, but has already had his name linked with Manchester United and Chelsea in a string of fantastical transfer stories.

And as he prepares to help Everton’s attempts to progress in the Carling Cup tonight, Blues assistant coach Steve Round is confident the Wavertree teenager will not be affected by the premature speculation.

“Ross is quite a level headed lad and he’s got some very good mentors within the dressing room here who will always advise correctly on doing the right thing every day and being the right professional,” says Round.

“That makes our job much easier obviously, and it’s testament to the likes of Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, or Phil Jagielka obviously.

“But the lad knows he’s just starting out really. He’s had a good start to the campaign but last season was disrupted massively for him. He was out for 10 months with a broken leg and he has hardly had any work or coaching because he missed most of his first year.

“He’s potentially a very good player but potential by definition means he’s only capable of it – he hasn’t done it yet. In the future I expect him to come through and be a top player for Everton – not for anybody else.

“You’ve only got to look at some of the previous ones. Jack Rodwell was the cause of a lot of speculation but he’s stuck it out and he’s playing regular Premier League football now.

“He’s in the team, he’s getting better every week and Ross has got to establish himself here first. People could forget he’s only 17 and just starting out on his footballing journey.”

Round is enthused by the attitude and potential he has already seen in Barkley, who last month made his England U-21 debut.

“I’m sure that his journey will be very successful,” he says. “I like his mentality and attitude to work. He’s the proverbial sponge - he’s into me every day asking what he can do better, and he listens, learns and wants to improve.

“He trains really hard, and comes out for extra work just as you’d expect from a young player. We’ve got a lot like that to be fair.

“He’s up there. It’s early to tell because he’s got to perform and consistently do it over a period of time.

I’ve worked with some exceptional young players in my time and talent wise he’s as good as any I’ve worked with, but talent only gets you so far.”

Round is in a typically upbeat frame of mind after Everton’s solid start to the season, and says the positive mood has never dipped during what appeared to be a fraught summer.

“One thing it does is it gives the younger players the opportunity. Maybe if we’d signed a player then Vellios wouldn’t have had that opportunity, or Ross Barkley wouldn’t get the opportunity.

“It’s what we do at Everton we make the most of what we’ve got and we’re very happy with what we’ve got.”

Tonight’s third round draw against Premier League opponents indicates the difficulty of the Carling Cup, according to Round.

And he insists that there are few teams now who do not take the competition with the utmost respect.

“I don’t think any teams don’t take it seriously,” he says. “Teams might rotate their squad but rotating your squad at Manchester City might mean bringing in some of the players who didn’t start against Fulham on Sunday, the likes of Tevez.

“Then those players that are coming in might have a point to prove, to say they should be in the team anyway and they might play better than whoever would have played. It’s a fallacy that teams don’t take it very seriously. Every player or coach I’ve met does.”Everton