Everton wait anxiously as injury diagnosis still days away for Nathan Patterson
Nathan Patterson is still a few days away from knowing how long he will be out of action for Everton, according to the Daily Record.
The 20-year-old suffered a nasty ankle injury while playing for Scotland in their 3-0 win over Ukraine on Wednesday and had to be stretchered down the tunnel having limped off the Hampden Park pitch.
He was immediately sent back to Finch Farm to undergo scans but they have seemed inconclusive and now Patterson must visit an expert to determine how long he needs to sit out for.
However, that specialist can’t see the Scottish international until Tuesday which further delays Everton finding out how long they will be without one of their breakout stars of the season.
A concern for Frank Lampard will be that it is the same ankle which had to be operated on last season which ruled him out of the club’s final months of the season.
Nerves
There will be a lot of nervous people around Finch Farm at the moment who are desperately hoping that Patterson’s time on the sidelines is much shorter than is feared.
After the experience of Seamus Coleman was needed last season, the youthful exuberance and athleticism of the 20-year-old has rejuvenated the Toffees’ defence and entire team this campaign and Lampard can’t afford to lose that now.
He is just starting to lead the club to a run of positive results with five unbeaten games in a row in the Premier League enough to see them climb up to 13th in the table.
Patterson has been a big part of that with the steely defending only half of his game as the clever attacking runs have created enough chances for the Everton attackers to finish off.
Coleman is an adequate replacement for a handful of games but Lampard would much prefer to have the Scot back fit sooner rather than later.