Sean Dyche must now be on Nathan Patterson notice at Everton after Scotland call-up
Everton boss Sean Dyche must now be on notice as Nathan Patterson receives yet another Scotland call despite his undeserved limited opportunities at Goodison Park.
The former Rangers defender has found starts hard to come by in recent games with Dyche preferring Mykolenko and Young at left-back and right-back respectively, leading to many calls that Dyche no longer trusts the former Rangers defender.
The Scots officially announced their squad for the upcoming October internationals, via their official Twitter account (4 October) with the 21-year-old Everton defender set to make his 16th international cap.
Despite his lack of regular game time at Goodison Park, manager Steve Clarke still believes in his abilities to make an impact but the same cannot be said of Dyche at Everton, with the former Burnley boss continuing to pick Ashley Young who has continued to struggle in recent weeks.
His performance against the Hatters was yet another unconvincing and hapless in a handful of worrying showings in his new surroundings.
As per SofaScore, Young played just 78 minutes and was correctly chalked off for Patterson who should now be expected to replace him in the starting line-up from now on.
The former Aston Villa full-back won just one of his duels all game, lost possession of the ball 11 times, completed just one of his four crosses, completed 0% of his dribbles and more crucially, made a critical mistake in the lead-up to Luton Town’s opener.
Whenever the Glasgow-born full-back takes to the pitch at Goodison Park, he certainly brings an energy and aggression that the Everton fans love and have arguably always needed over the years.
Veteran Young has certainly proven a very sensible and solid presence for Dyche but recent performances suggest that he isn’t the long-term solution.
The upcoming internationals will certainly allow Dyche the chance to reflect and change tact for when the Premier League resumes again and one of those changes must certainly be handing Patterson a continued role in the team given the fact that he is a fully-fledged international now.
Although the former Rangers man is still incredibly raw, and far from the finished product, his potential and international spotlight are deserving of a starting spot at Goodison Park over a past-his-best free transfer who realistically should be resigned to a backup role.
It remains to be seen whether Dyche will look to make immediate changes for this weekend’s game against Bournemouth, but if anything, Patterson’s involvement for Scotland in high-profile games should be enough to keep Dyche on notice that he has an ideal right-back solution right under his nose.
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