Wayne Rooney declares himself 'ready' for new Premier League season

The 31-year-old drew a blank on his first appearance since re-signing for his boyhood club, and it took a deflected shot from left-back Leighton Baines to beat Slovakian side Ruzemberok 1-0 in the first leg of a third round Europa League qualifier.

While it is still early in the season, Everton manager Ronald Koeman would have liked to have held a bigger advantage for next week's second leg, but getting more goals into the side is going to take time.

Romelu Lukakau's departure to Manchester United for a potential world-record £90million deal means the club have lost a player who scored at least 20 goals a season for the last three years, with 25 alone coming in the Premier League last year.

Wantaway midfielder Ross Barkley was the next highest scorer with just six, so there is an obvious need for the goals to be shared around to make up for the deficit.

Koeman has brought in former Barcelona striker Sandro Ramirez after he scored 16 for Malaga last term, the same number registered by another new recruit Davy Klaassen for Ajax.

He is also interested in signing Gylfi Sigurdsson, who scored 10 for Swansea last season, if the two clubs can agree after a bid of £45m was turned down earlier this month

Rooney, 40/1 with Sky Bet to be the leading Premier League goalscorer this season, himself managed just eight in his final season at Manchester United but accepts he – and his team-mates – will have to improve.

"I felt comfortable (against Ruzemberok). I am ready to go," the England international told evertonfc.com.

"It is a new challenge for me and I want to help us be more successful. Hopefully I can help contribute to the team. It would be great if we could get a few of us scoring the goals this season, but we will wait and see how that pans out and just keep working hard.

"We will have to see how the start of the season goes and we will have to kick on from there. The most important thing is making sure we are right for the start of the season, getting pre-season under our belts.

"We are only a few weeks into pre-season, so we are still preparing. It was a game (Ruzemberok) where we had to get a result and we have got a good win to take to their place next week. We are pleased with that but, of course, there are things we can do a lot better."

Sandro came off the bench just after the hour at Goodison Park last night as Koeman continues to ease him in after playing for Spain in the European Under-21 Championships until mid-June.

However, the Spaniard is confident he will be ready for the Premier League opener at home to Stoke on August 12.

"We are still in pre-season and we still need to work on getting that little bit of match sharpness we need," said Sandro.

"There is still a while to go before the first league game of the season and we will find that level of fitness and that sharpness that we want. We still have a couple of weeks to go.

"But I feel good in myself. There is still a lot of hard work to go. I think my team-mates are a little bit ahead of me but I am getting there and I feel sharper and sharper.

"I am very happy and really pleased with how my debut went. It was my first competitive game for the club and to make it at home was fantastic

"What I hope I can do is repay that confidence that the fans are showing in me. I will do that with lots of hard work – I can promise that – and hopefully lots of goals as well."

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