James Garner to feature for Everton Under-21’s as recovery from injury continues – Sean Dyche
James Garner is set to feature for the Everton Under-21 squad this week as he continues his recovery from injury, according to Sean Dyche.
The England Under-21 international was signed from Manchester United in the summer but has struggled for regular game time this season, and has been out of action for months with a back injury.
But after featuring in a game for the Under-21’s last week, Dyche says he isn’t quite ready for a first-team return just yet but will feature again with the developmental squad this week as he continues to recover.
“They’ve both been out a while, and they need games,” he said, as quoted by Ben Dinnery. “Jimmy is going well – he’s getting fitter and stronger.
“There’s another game this week (for the Under-21s), so we’ll probably get him in that one. And then he should be classed as being fit.”
Boost
Everton need as many options as they can get to improve the team, and Garner was signed to add creativity and energy to an ageing midfield in the summer.
Frank Lampard was wary of making changes to his starting lineup, especially in midfield, and so Garner didn’t get much game time before he suffered an injury.
But as Dyche looks to make changes to his team to get it more in his image, Garner is a player who could benefit from that and earn more game time.
With a return to fitness now seemingly imminent, it will be great for Garner to turn in a good performance to get himself into contention for the first-team as soon as possible with such big games coming up.
It’s great to see him back, and hopefully we can start to see the player that convinced the club to part with £15m in the summer to bring him in ahead of other Premier League rivals who wanted him.