IT was a disappointing night for Rovers reserve side as they went down 3-0 to Everton at the Auotquest Stadium.

But on the positive side England Under-21 Martin Taylor tasted competitve action for the first time in over a month, coming on as a second half sub.

"Martin came on 25 minutes from the end and he did okay," said reserves boss Alan Murray this morning.

"He did not feel any ill affects after the game and we will check how he feels today. It was good to see him back."

Manager Graeme Souness added: "Martin came through with no problem, so that was a positive, it was what we expected to happen.

"He obviously needs a few more games, but he is a young man who is naturally fit and so it shouldn't be long before he is challenging for a first team place."

In general Murray was not happy with his side's defending, especially in one on one situations, with the result being a comfortable win for the home side.

"We had several chances but failed to take any of them," he said. "Craig Hignett hit the post from a good opportunity, Marcus Bent missed a header and Egil Ostenstad had a chance. Everton had a strong side out and we held our own at times. It was our first game for a while but we were not ring rusty, in fact both sides played quite well.

"The key difference was that they took their chances and we didn't."