Everton: Sean Dyche apologises to Nathan Patterson after joke gone wrong sparks altercation

Sean Dyche apologised to Nathan Patterson over an ill-judged joke which sparked an altercation among the Everton squad on their Portuguese trip, according to the Daily Mail.

The paper reported via their website on 15 March that after connecting more forcefully than intended with a "jocular slap at the head" of the Scot was led away from the table by James Tarkowski to let ill-feeling subside.

Dyche apologised when he returned and there appears to have been no lingering issues as the team, including 22-year-old Patterson, trained well over the past couple of days and those close to the club say the trip was successful.

The squad landed back in England at 5pm on Friday with the players said to be in "good spirits".

Everton trip success despite mishap between manager and former Rangers full-back

If Dyche apologised and it was accepted there need not be any long-term repercussions on the relegation battle over the coming weeks.

Since Patterson is apparently now behind all of Ben Godfrey, Seamus Coleman and Ashley Young in the pecking order at right-back it might be more important how other players felt about the situation.

The Goodison Park boss arguably needs to give the Scot another go in the team as it is, since his recent preference for Godfrey on the right hasn't been spectacularly fruitful.

But whether Dyche feels more or less inclined to bring the former Ibrox defender back into the line-up in the wake of the awkwardness in Portugal remains to be seen.

Patterson's long-term prospects at Everton don't look especially glowing if he doesn't and could lead to a move away before long.

Godfrey is naturally a centre-back and although he can fill in adequately on the right his positioning feels less than idea at full-back, while he doesn't have the attacking range of any of the other three and came close to leaving in January.

Young is 38 and Coleman is 35 so how much longer they keep going is also a relevant factor but right-back has rarely been settled during Dyche's time in charge, and accidentally upsetting the man who seems to already be last in line probably wasn't on his to-do list for the training camp trip.

In other Everton news, administration now on the cards as the club branded "near-uninvestable".

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