Thierno Barry believes "this season needs to be mine" as he looks to build on his hat-trick against Preston North End in the EFL Cup.

Everton cruised to a 4-0 victory at Deepdale, with Brennan Johnson also scoring his first goal for the Toffees, along with Barry's first treble for the club.

It was a comfortable outing in the end for David Moyes' side, who accumulated 3.94 expected goals (xG) from 29 shots to Preston's 0.34 from just five attempts.

Everton led just 1-0 at half-time through Barry, though three second-half goals in the space of 13 minutes secured a spot in the third round of the EFL Cup, where they will host Championship side Wolves.

Barry also scored in Everton's Premier League win over Crystal Palace over the weekend, and is now determined to kick on in 2026-27.

"I say this season needs to be mine," Barry told Sky Sports.

"I try a lot this summer for that so I’m very happy to score my first hat-trick with Everton.

"I work a lot for that, I’m very happy, my team-mates helped me a lot also."

Thierno Barry's hat-trick is our first since September 2020. 

Clinical, Baz!  pic.twitter.com/F0EqCygbjt

— Everton (@Everton) August 26, 2026

When asked about his striker's performance, Moyes added: "I told him he has to do a lot better than he did before, that’s it.

"We want goalscorers, we want centre forwards to score goals and he's got some.

"I don’t think it's easy for anybody coming to the Premier League in their first season, especially centre forwards, it’s difficult for them.

"He'll learn a lot more, he'll see a lot more and he's come in with a much better attitude generally so whoever's working with him is doing a good job."