A round-up of Everton’s injury situation after a summer that has posed issues for Sean Dyche and his Finch Farm staff
Everton return to action with a trip to Ipswich Town on Saturday. The game is set to be a barometer of the Blues’ progress this season with their newly-promoted opponents still settling into life in the Premier League.
Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich side are one of four yet to win in the league and three points for Everton would likely open a gap to that clutch of team sides and push them into the lower reaches of mid-table.
After a tough start to the campaign that would offer reassurance that steps forward are being made on the pitch as well as off it, where the takeover of the club by The Friedkin Group and the continuing stadium developments mean Sean Dyche, for once, can focus solely on life at Finch Farm.
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But it will not be easy. The Blues have not won away from Goodison Park this calendar year, with the December success at Burnley the last time the away end set off on a journey back to Merseyside with three points in the bag.
And while Ipswich are yet to win, they are just one point behind Everton having shown enough resilience to secure four draws from an opening seven fixtures that has included games with Manchester City and Liverpool.
With that in mind, Dyche could do with a strong squad to choose from – something that has been out of reach to date this season. So many minor-but-problematic knocks have hampered the early weeks of the summer that the Blues have sought answers – Dyche acknowledging possible factors such as the approach to pre-season were being reviewed after the draw with Newcastle United, which saw Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko fall out of contention in the days before the match.
The Everton boss said: “We’ve looked at varying things. We have looked at training schedules, we have looked at pre-season, at bodies coming back late and at different times of pre-season because they needed a rest from different competitions.
“You are trying to look at all of that and it’s difficult because we carry a thin squad because of the financial side [of the club].”
In that respect, this international break is both a blessing and a curse. It is a useful opportunity for players who have been battling through knocks or who are at the tail end of their recovery to work away from the pressures of matchday preparations. It has disrupted momentum, however, with Everton having gone three unbeaten heading into the fortnight, while also taking a host of players outside of the remit of Finch Farm’s staff and into action loaded with jeopardy as they travel the world to represent their nations.
That threat was made clear on Friday when Iliman Ndiaye was brought off midway through the second half of Senegal’s 4-0 win over Malawi. The attacker, one of Everton’s standout players of the season to date, was withdrawn after receiving treatment on the pitch and any concern over his fitness would spark frustration back on Merseyside.
Footage from the end of the match showed the summer signing on the pitch laughing with team-mates, offering some hope his substitution was a precaution. Plenty of attention will be paid to the team news from Malawi on Tuesday afternoon, when Senegal face the same opposition as Ndiaye and team-mate Idrissa Gueye continue efforts to help their country qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations.
It will likely be Thursday before fitness staff can assess Ndiaye but they will have had no shortage of patients before his and Gueye’s return to the Halewood base. Chief among their concerns is Branthwaite, who made his comeback after months out following groin surgery in Everton’s win over Crystal Palace but then suffered a quad issue a few days later.
Michael Keane earned plaudits for his performance in the England starlet’s place and has been repeatedly praised by Dyche this season but may come under challenge should Branthwaite be able to return.
Like Mykolenko, who was unable to feature against Newcastle because of a calf problem and did not join up with the Ukraine squad as a result, Dyche expressed hope Branthwaite would only be out for a limited period.
He said after the Newcastle game: “We’re hopeful that he will be back for the next one, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
The return of both would enable Dyche to get close to the back four that proved so solid last season. There is still work to be done on that front, however. James Tarkowski is still yet to miss a Premier League game since he arrived at Everton two years ago but his summer has been disrupted by minor issues – first a glute problem that hit his pre-season and then a back complaint that led to him being left out of the Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton.
Tarkowski’s training regime has been restricted at times due to these issues, of which he said before Newcastle: “I’ve not been playing in absolute agony, it’s just hindered my fitness levels a little bit and not being able to train all the time and be on the grass all the time, which doesn’t help when it comes to a weekend.
“It’s not ideal but some players have probably done it for a number of years over their careers because they have to manage injuries. I’ve never been through it before and it’s the first time I’ve had to do it.”
The 31-year-old has been training with his team-mates during the break and the hope is this break falls at a good time for him to get up to speed.
The right side of the defence has been an issue all season but Everton could be set for some positive news on that front. Nathan Patterson has been absent since picking up a hamstring injury at the 6-0 hammering at Chelsea in April. He required surgery on that but is now close to a return.
Patterson has played in the last three matches for the Under-21s, including two in five days before the break, and has been taking part in training sessions with the first team since.
At Ipswich, the Blues could, therefore, have a senior right-back option available to challenge Ashley Young and James Garner, just two in a long list of players used in that position this season. Seamus Coleman, who has featured this season but currently has a calf issue, is also working towards a return soon.
Everton’s problems ahead of the defence have eased in recent weeks with the two outstanding injuries being the long-term ones. Youssef Chermiti was having an excellent pre-season when a serious foot injury curtailed his progress and he remains absent, as does Armando Broja, the striker signed on loan from Chelsea on deadline day.
The Blues will not have to pay for Broja’s deal until he is playing for the club and that day is approaching, though he is expected to need some time to get up to speed and could, as a result, be targeting a comeback to first team football around the time of the November international break.