After disappointing losses to Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers, Lewtas and his staff were encouraged by the overall performance against Tottenham Hotspur in their last game of 2020 as they were unfortunate to lose 4-3.
Indeed, moments before Spurs scored a stoppage-time winner the Reds squandered a chance to clinch victory themselves from a set-piece.
Lewtas believes lessons can be learned from that defeat and he is hoping his youthful team can rise to the occasion in the mini-derby at Southport FC.
Sixth-placed Liverpool are just a point ahead of the Blues in Premier League 2, so there is plenty to play for when the rivals meet this evening.
Ahead of the 7pm GMT kick-off, which you can watch live on LFCTV and LFCTV GO, read our pre-match interview with Lewtas…
On a return to action with the first game of 2021…
It's been a while since our last game and it's exciting to get back to Premier League 2 and there's no more exciting game than a derby against Everton. We are all really looking forward to it.
On the 1-0 win over the Blues on the opening day of the season…
We got the early goal through Jake Cain but that was a tough day. We were a young side and giving away a bit of experience against a strong team, but I felt there was a number of good performances in there. It was a really good start to the season and we showed plenty of personality as well as performance levels, so there was a lot of positives we could take from that game.
On the outstanding display of Caoimhin Kelleher that day and his pride at seeing the goalkeeper feature for the first team this season…
Caoimhin has done ever so well and I'm really pleased for him. It's great that he has played a few games for us this season and then gone on to do well for the first team. Against Everton they were a real threat on the day with their two wide players and Caoimhin made some big saves for us.
On the return of defender Morgan Boyes after his loan spell at Fleetwood Town…
It has been a great experience for him. For us, it's important to allow players to get out on loan and give them that experience of what they eventually want to move into. It's a really important part of their development. In his absence we have had a number of partnerships this season that have done really well and Sepp van den Berg has been excellent for us.
LFCTV GO: Watch the best of the action v Tottenham
On the stoppage-time 4-3 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in their last outing...
We had a tough couple of weeks in terms of results and performances going into the game and the overall performance, result apart, it was probably up there with one of our best performances of the season. We controlled the game for large parts and created some great chances. We showed a little bit of naivety conceding three of the four goals from set-pieces, which was the disappointing part of it. But, looking at the level of performance both collectively and individually, we were pleased with it.
On a hat-trick of assists for left-back Owen Beck against Spurs…
I thought Owen played ever so well against Tottenham and I was really pleased with him. Owen is a tenacious defender. What he gives away in terms of his size as a defender, that will come with age because he is only a young man. He defends ever so well but we've been encouraging him to get forward more and contribute more in the attacking areas, which he has done. Against Tottenham he was able to provide that extra quality with his final pass, and three assists - you have to be pleased with that.
On the key to victory in the mini-derby…
Everton have a really good team under David Unsworth, there's no question of that. We have managed to defend well in certain moments of the game so far this season and we have created chances, but at the same time we haven't been as ruthless in those moments and taking key chances. Against Tottenham we conceded three of the four goals from set-pieces, which is criminal really, so we have to be much better against Everton. We do realise how young we are as a team this season. That's not me making excuses but what can come from that when you have a young group is a bit of naivety. We have told the boys in this second half of the season we have to be better in both boxes and try to make sure the good play we have is backed up by some results.
On U23s captain Liam Millar signing a new deal and joining Charlton Athletic on loan...
Liam has done really well for us this season and has led by example. I'm really pleased for him to get this opportunity. Liam is an exciting player and hopefully he can show everyone what he is capable of. For us, someone else will now get the opportunity to take the captain's armband and hopefully they can take a lot from it.
Supporters are reminded that this is a behind-closed-doors fixture.