Everton Under-23s went down to their first Premier League 2 defeat of the season after being undone by Leicester defender Josh Knight’s 36th-minute header at Southport’s Haig Avenue.
The young Blues struggled to impose themselves on the game before half-time but threw everything they had at rescuing something from the contest after the break.
Bassala Sambou came closest with a header that narrowly missed the target – but Leicester clung on, with goalscorer Knight capping a fine personal display with a brave block on substitute Jose Baxter’s penalty-box drive in the game’s final knockings.