Nathan Patterson has to wait, first-choice Everton place now gone to Seamus Coleman – Sky Sports pundit
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Nathan Patterson will face an uphill battle to get back into the Everton starting XI because of Seamus Coleman’s experience, says Kevin Campbell.
The Scottish right-back is nearing fitness after a knee injury took him out of the line-up following the 4-1 home defeat to Brighton on 3 January, and has recently featured for the under-21s.
But in his absence club captain Coleman has stepped up and Sky Sports pundit Campbell expects the veteran Irishman to remain first choice with the stakes so high in the relegation battle.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News the former Toffees captain said of Patterson potentially having a struggle: “At the moment, yes. Because Seamus has got all the experience.
“When games come up Saturday-midweek-Saturday, that takes its toll. As you get older it becomes a lot harder to recover from the game.
“So I think Sean Dyche might use his head and say, ‘Right, Seamus you play Saturday and won’t play again until the following Saturday. You can be on the bench maybe but I’m going to rest you because I will need your experience [later].’
“Patterson just has to wait for his time. He’s a good player but he’s learning.”
Patterson’s January arrival last season looked like it was the latest in a long line of costly failures under Farhad Moshiri when he was unable to break into Frank Lampard’s side for the rest of the campaign.
But the start of this season saw him elevated to starter and become part of what was, at the time, one of the best defences in the Premier League with James Tarkowski, Conor Coady and Vitalii Mykolenko.
However, his knee injury is the second significant absence since those heady days early in the campaign, and with Coleman one of the strongest Everton performers under Dyche it looks like Patterson might be back to square one in trying to force his way into the line-up.