David Moyes insists he will not take Everton’s Carabao Cup trip to Preston lightly.
Wednesday’s second round tie at Deepdale sees Moyes facing the club where his managerial journey began in only their second competitive meeting since he left.
The Scot oversaw a 2-0 win against the Championship outfit as his Blues side progressed to the competition’s fourth round at Goodison Park in October 2004.
Moyes’ selections in the cup have come under scrutiny after making widespread changes for last season’s trip to Wolves which saw his team crash out in a 1-0 loss.
The Everton manager also rested the likes of Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Beto for the previous round’s win over Mansfield at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
But Moyes has hinted that he will not take a similar approach against Preston as he did against the League One side for the trip to his one-time stomping ground.
He said: “I did it last year and we didn’t win at Wolves.
“Our first game [last season] was Mansfield and we have a much, much tougher game against Preston.
“They are a good side and it’s me going back to where I started as well.
“We also have a lot of players who are looking as if … Tyler Dibling is playing better, Keano (Michael Keane) and big Jake (O’Brien) are around.
“We have a lot of players who could be classed as first-team players, but I haven’t even thought about it.”
Everton will be aiming to take a step closer to ending a 31-year wait for silverware in the season’s Carabao Cup with an increased focus placed on the tournament.
Dewsbury-Hall revealed after last weekend’s Premier League opener with Crystal Palace that the message behind the scenes has been one to ‘go deep’ in the cups.
Moyes, however, has dismissed suggestions that he does not already place a particular emphasis on an extended cup run.
He added: “I think it’s a question journalists ask every manager and in some ways, I think ‘are those journalists dead stupid?’
“Do you think none of the managers want to win the cups?
“Of course we all want to win the cups. Yes, the cups are hugely important [but] would it be more important than staying in the Premier League?
“We want to do well in the cups, I can’t think of any manager who wouldn’t want a run in the cups.”