Sean Dyche determined to address Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury woes at Everton
Everton manager Sean Dyche has vowed to leave no stone unturned when it comes to addressing Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s ongoing injury troubles.
The striker started the manager’s first game in charge but was withdrawn after an hour as a precautionary measure in light of his numerous fitness problems over the past year.
Calvert-Lewin missed Monday’s Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool, with Ellis Simms chosen to replace him and the England international is also set to miss Saturday’s crunch clash with Leed United [18 February] and Dyche insists he and his staff will do everything to address the player’s injury record.
Speaking at his press conference ahead of the Leeds clash [via Liverpool Echo, 16 February], he said: “I’m speaking to Dominic, speaking to the medics, the sports science team, getting the stats and facts, training programmes, distance covered, high speed running, how many kilometres in a week, what’s his diet like, what’s his lifestyle like, what car does he drive, what mattress does he use, how many hours does he sleep at night.
Dyche added: “I hope to trust all my staff including myself, I make the final decision. I hope to trust all the stats and facts plus the feedback and his knowledge because as you get older you learn about your body as well.
“It’s hard to explain but when you’re a player you know the difference when something is not right or something when you go ‘no I can shake that.’ It takes a number of years to learn about your own body, younger players don’t often have it but older players do and Dominic is in that middle bracket of course, you’re usually 25ish plus when you learn that.
“There’s also scientific feedback, medic feedback, my feedback and his feedback, everything goes in the pot. You can’t just leave it forever and have a one-month injury that takes three months just to be sure but there has to be a balance where you go ‘where are we at when you are really, really fit and clear and that’s what we’re searching for.”
Worrying
Calvert-Lewin’s ongoing fitness troubles are incredibly worrying and Toffees fans may be forgiven for thinking what might have been had the striker remained fit for much of his career so far.
The player turns 26 soon which means he’ll be entering the prime of his career, and it’d be a shame for him to miss out on consistently playing at the top level, or even at a top club in future if his injury record continues.
The striker is an incredibly gifted player when fit, and he showed his class against Arsenal in Dyche’s first game in charge before being taken off.
The former Burnley coach has a lot of miracles to achieve at Goodison Park this season, and trying to get the England international back playing at the top level consistently remains at the top of his list alongside securing the Toffees’ Premier League future. Huge.