Sean Dyche drops IMPORTANT update on Abdoulaye Doucoure’s fitness 👀

Everton fell back into their profligate ways last night, as despite being the side arguably forcing the issue, they simply could not find the back of the net.

Only later on, as James Garner’s strike deflected up for Beto, did they manage an equaliser, drawing level after Michael Keane had put them behind following his own goal. It would not prove enough though, as they crashed out of the EFL Cup final on penalties to Fulham.

Sean Dyche has made such great strides in the last couple months, progressing a side once that looked devoid of any confidence and direction.

However, they fell back into old patterns last night, and at crucial moments lacked that cutting edge.

It is therefore no surprise that this correlated with the absence of Abdoulaye Doucoure, who was forced off at half-time in Saturday’s win over Burnley.

At the time Dyche insisted it was merely precautionary, but he has since offered a fresh update: ‘Probably not [back for this weekend], but going forward we’re hopeful it’ll settle down quickly. He’s super fit and in his experience and mine, he’s a good healer.

‘We’ll see [on other injuries]. The next three days is going to be really important. We’ll make sure there’s nothing from tonight, of course, as we are a bit stretched.’

As another physical offensive presence to support Dominic Calvert-Lewin, whilst there are a couple who can offset his work rate in that role, they simply cannot mimic that same predatory nuisance that the £120k-per-week midfielder has become.

After all, with six goals in the Premier League already this season, having surpassed his tally from last campaign, the 30-year-old is Everton’s top scorer.

This alone outlines his continued importance, with last night only emphasising that.

So often the Toffees would find themselves in profitable positions, whether it be in dangerous pockets of space or out wide.

However, when delivering they were only handed one target.

Were they to miss Calvert-Lewin with the delivery, which they often did, there was no one else around him to clean up and poke home loose balls. That is where they miss Doucoure, and last night saw that in excruciating fashion.

He has grown into one of the club’s most influential players, as an asset reborn following the torrid tenure of Frank Lampard.

To see him ruled out for this weekend marks another blow in their hopes of going to Tottenham Hotspur and claiming a result, given his penchant for big goals too.

Dyche must soon sort a solution for his continued absence, as it will not be long before Everton have to contend with life without such a key cog in their philosophy.