James McCarthy made his first appearance since July but was unable to prevent Everton losing 3-1 to Wolfsburg in their International Cup opener at Southport.
The midfielder played until half-time, by which point Everton were ahead thanks to a strike by Boris Mathis and a sensational save by Louis Gray.
The Everton goalkeeper was helpless to prevent Murat Saglam equalising just before the hour.
Substitute Abdallah El-Haibi put Wolfsburg ahead in the 74th minute and Blaz Kramer sealed victory with a breakaway goal from a Toffees corner.
Derby County and Dinamo Zagreb are the other teams in Group C.
See: Everton report
Next: 20 Oct Everton v Sunderland (H) PL2
