Jarrad Branthwaite believes the point earned at Sheffield United offers Everton a foundation for further progress.

The centre back said his side was left counting the cost of taking “our foot off the gas” after Abdoulaye Doucoure bundled in the club’s first Premier League goal of the season to give the Blues the lead. Cameron Archer then undid that positive start, equalising from Oli McBurnie’s cushioned lay-off then striking the post from distance and watching as it rebounded into the net via the back of Jordan Pickford.

Branthwaite acknowledged the result could have been worse had it not been for Pickford’s stunning late double stop, but was largely pleased Everton were able to display the resolve to overcome the own goal, draw level through Arnaut Danjuma and then push for a winner.

That did not come, but the draw meant Everton avoided defeat for the first time in the league and he believes that is a positive that can be built upon over the coming fortnight.

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He told the club website: “It was a hard-fought game. When we went 1-0 up, I think we were dominating and we just took our foot off the gas a little bit. In this league, that kills you. We go in at half-time 2-1 down despite dominating but the gaffer said we have to keep full focus for every minute throughout the game. We came out second half and started it sharp. We got our goal and I thought we deserved more. It’s a massive boost in confidence to get something from the game and we know we could have got more. We were the better team, it was just that lack of concentration with the two goals.”

Branthwaite was brought into the starting line-up for the home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers and looked assured across that fixture and the trip to Bramall Lane. His development was a success story of last season as he picked up valuable senior experience, including in European competition, with PSV Eindhoven. The 21-year-old, who joins up with the England Under-21s this week, was relatively happy with the defensive performance in Yorkshire and is looking forward to building on his two appearances upon his return from international duty. And he believes the Sheffield United result and display will help preparations for the resumption of the domestic schedule, with Arsenal at Goodison Park next up.

He said: “Other than [the goals] and the chance they had at the end, we didn’t let them create much else. It gives us confidence going into the international break. We’ve got things we can learn from to develop us. That’s what we’ll do and we’ll come back after the international break ready to go again. We can start afresh but we also need to learn from the first four games, the mistakes that have been made and switching off which has cost us goals and points.

“We created so many chances in our two home games, we didn’t score, and we switched off for one moment and the opposition scored. That shows the quality in this league. We can take what has happened in those four games, develop on some things and go again.”