Dominic Calvert-Lewin needed ‘saving from himself’ following Everton injury v Aston Villa
Andy Hinchcliffe has praised Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s determination to remain on the pitch for Everton against Aston Villa.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the commentator said the striker deserved credit for playing on after a clash with Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez resulted in Calvert-Lewin bruising his face.
He was subsequently removed from play by Sean Dyche for Arnaut Danjuma in 38 minutes, which Hinchcliffe claims was needed to ensure Calvert-Lewin’s safety.
As reported from Sky Sports’ live feed, Hinchcliffe said: “Let’s give Calvert-Lewin a lot of credit for wanting to stay on. But he needs to be saved from himself because you can see that there is a major problem there.”
Safety first
Calvert-Lewin tried for 28 minutes of the Aston Villa clash to play on following his collision with Martinez. The Villa goalkeeper is a big man, and the clash would have been tough to take.
While the striker did not have a significant impact on the match, with Villa being 2-0 up when he was taken off, Sean Dyche would have been furious to take him off after missing the start of the season through injury.
Per SofaScore, Calvert-Lewin did not manage a single shot on goal and only managed seven touches across 38 minutes, meaning that Danjuma would have backed himself to be a good replacement.
However, the 26-year-old has the faith of the Goodison Park faithful who would have hoped he could improve his performance against the strong Villa side.
If he continued to play, many would have feared his health considering the location of the injury. While his substitution was not an emergency concussion substitution, the injury looked significant and would have been causing a lot of pain which would have only got worse.
With more bad luck haunting Calvert-Lewin, Toffees fans will hope he is fit to return soon.
In other Everton news, the Toffees have made a fresh bid for an international striker.