Jake O’Brien has been left frustrated by his lack of chances but insists he has no regrets about joining Everton. The centre back was a high-profile addition in the summer, his £16m move following a breakthrough season with Lyon that ended with an agonising defeat in the final of the Coupe de France.

Six months on, he has made just a handful of senior appearances and is yet to start a Premier League game. The towering 23-year-old is backing himself to build a career at the Blues, however, and determined to become a key figure in the rebuild expected to take place under new manager David Moyes.

Speaking ahead of Everton’s game with Tottenham Hotspur today, O’Brien reflected with honesty as he looked back at the start of his time on Merseyside. He said: “I think I need to start playing more.

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“I knew it wouldn’t be easy to play games, but I thought I would have played a lot more than I did. But I suppose it’s only been half a season and there is another half of the season to go and I think I could play my part in this half the season and start getting more game time. It’s been a frustrating six months, but I think the next half of the season is important for me to start getting games.”

That was a struggle under former manager Sean Dyche, who turned to Michael Keane when Jarrad Branthwaite spent the opening months of the season absent while recovering from a groin issue. At Ipswich Town, Keane started alongside James Tarkowski even while both were struggling with their fitness.

For O’Brien, his experiences to date have not changed the appeal of the club he felt in the summer, when he opted for Everton ahead of several rival offers. He said: “I just thought in terms of just coming here, just for the family and everything, it’s close to home. It’s just a great club. I know there’s a lack of game time, but I don’t regret coming here. There’s still a lot of time to show what I’m about.”

The Republic of Ireland international had his first sign that the future may be brighter on Wednesday. While he did not start in the narrow defeat to Aston Villa, he did make it onto the pitch for the final minutes as Moyes took a look at him in action.

The former Crystal Palace man also started the FA Cup win over Peterborough United, the first match of the post-Dyche era. For O’Brien, the change in the dugout represents a new opportunity - one that he has experience of taking advantage of. Last season he was struggling for minutes at Lyon before Fabio Grosso was sacked in November. A change of boss led to an opportunity he grasped with both hands, becoming a mainstay in a side that rose from the relegation zone to end the season with European qualification and that cup final defeat.

At Everton, he is now hoping to do the same: “I've played for a lot of managers and they have all been different and they have looked for different things in players, so I hope David Moyes will see what kind of player I am, and hopefully it is the player he wants to play.”

Standing at 6ft 6in, the temptation is to believe O’Brien’s strengths are physical, but he is also adept on the ball. He said one of the factors in his decision to swap Palace for the south of France was the desire to learn a different side of the game and he is keen to showcase that at Goodison Park.

He added: “I think a lot of people just see my size and think, ‘he is just a no-nonsense centre half’. It is probably the opposite, I like to play good football and I like to play possession football, to start attacks from the back, but then chipping in and scoring - defending as well, which is the main part of my game.”

On the goals-front, O’Brien can offer a track record of hitting the back of the net. He scored in that cup final defeat to Kylian Mbappe’s Paris Saint Germain and drove home from the edge of the box for Everton against Preston North End in pre-season. But again, it is his confidence at the back that he hopes will allow him greater opportunity - particularly after his first week under Moyes.

The first days under the new manager at Finch Farm have suggested the Blues may adapt towards his skillset. He said: “It’s been very positive [the arrival of Moyes]. I think he just wants to start playing more, get a bit more possession. It’s all been positive and there’s not been a whole lot of change because he’s only been here a week, but you can see his ideas in training that he’s trying to implement.”

O’Brien is intent on securing a place in Everton’s future and being an important part of the transition to the club’s new stadium. But Moyes’ first priority is securing Premier League survival this season. O’Brien is confident he will be able to do so.

He said: “I just can’t see us going down. Last season we were in this kind of situation, but I think it’s more about us looking up the table and knowing we have the squad to get points. I think we’re better than a lot of teams around us, so I think it’s just about getting a few points on the board and pushing up.”