Hayden Hackney is a star in the making at Everton, with four of his teammates now being praised for the examples they are setting on the training ground at Finch Farm.

Season one at Everton for Hayden Hackney hasn’t been a success to date, but his ability is unquestioned, along with his hard work. David Moyes’ handling of Hackney has been a source of frustration for fans, but there is a feeling that he will come good.

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Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall of Everton celebrates his goal to make it 1-1 during the Premier League match between Hull City and Everton at MKM Stadium in Hull, United Kingdom, on October 11, 2026.

Hayden Hackney names the four Everton players he admires in training

Hackney has spoken with Adebayo Akinfenwa on his ‘Beast Mode On‘ podcast, revealing plenty about his ambition to succeed at Everton. But also praising four teammates whom he admires in training.

“You have [James Tarkowski] Tarky, he’s a leader, every day in training he’s setting standards. You have Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall], Jimmy [James] Garner, Michael Keane, so many they’re onto you making sure you keep your standards high, and there’s competition, and I think you need that in training every day.”

Tarkowski, Dewsbury-Hall, Garner, and Keane are arguably the four biggest leaders in the Everton team right now, so for them to be setting the examples for younger players is brilliant and exactly what should be happening.

Hackney was a leader at Middlesbrough and quite feasibly could join this leadership group at Everton once he gets the game time that his encouraging performances have shown, despite not earning the trust of Moyes.

It isn’t all good and professional at training, though, as Hackney has also revealed.

Hackney names Everton player who got fined by Moyes

Also in the interview with Akinfenwa, Hackney was quizzed over whether any of his teammates have been fined by Everton, to which he named Thierno Barry.

“I don’t think anyone has actually been fined. Maybe Barry, in pre-season, was late, but I’m not sure if he actually got fined. Normally, everyone is on time”, Hackney explained.

Moyes is an old-school boss, and clearly, standards in training are being set from the manager down to the players, which creates a superb environment that Hackney has praised.