Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be missing for Everton when they face Arsenal on Wednesday, with no timeframe on his return according to Sean Dyche.
The England international hasn’t featured since the 1-0 win against the Gunners in Dyche’s first game in charge, when he was withdrawn after an hour with a tight hamstring.
But he will be missing once again for the return fixture at the Emirates Stadium, as will Nathan Patterson and James Garner who are still not ready to return despite recently featuring for the Under 21’s.
“James Garner’s going well,” Dyche said, as quoted by journalist Richard Buxton. “He’s getting fitter and stronger.
“Nathan Patterson’s just a bit behind that so he’ll just need a bit more (time).”
When asked about Calvert-Lewin, Dyche said he was “recovering” but there was no timescale on his potential return.
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Huge blow
It’s not a surprise, but it’s still a huge blow that these players aren’t available to come back into the side and give Dyche some new options for his squad.
Instead he’ll have the same players available to him for the game against the league leaders, who are on fire right now and will want to be at their best to exact revenge from the game a few weeks ago.
Dyche will look to set up in a similar way to how he did that day, but there will be no Goodison Park crowd to gee them up and they will need to be fully focused and at their best for 90+ minutes to get anything.
Calvert-Lewin’s injury problems are not a surprise anymore but Everton need to find something to cure them or move on from him, because he simply can’t be relied upon anymore to be the main man.
Neal Maupay and Ellis Simms have struggled so far, so Demarai Gray could get his chance but Dyche needs someone in his forward line to start putting the ball in the net if we’re going to get out of this relegation battle.