Dyche in action 🤧Sean Dyche ‘shocked’ by sanction but insists point deduction hasn’t altered mindset
Sean Dyche has supplied an injury update on five of his first-team players ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash against Luton Town.
Luton Town will descend on Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon as Everton aim to reach the fifth round of the competition for the first time in two seasons. The Hatters, meanwhile, have only made it past this stage once in their last ten campaigns.
While off-field issues continue to dominate the headlines at Everton, Sean Dyche’s side have put in performances on the pitch that supporters will be proud of.
Indeed, without the 10-point deduction for breaching PSR, the Toffees would be in 12th position, 11 points above the relegation zone.
In their position of peril towards the bottom end of the table, Dyche’s side could benefit from a cup run to lift the supporters through a difficult period.
Ahead of their clash against Luton, however, the Everton boss will be without several of his first-team stars.
In his pre-match press conference, Dyche revealed that his midfield was decimated even further.
Dele Alli, who has been absent for a long time and hasn’t played for Everton this season, has undergone surgery and there is no return date attached to his recovery.
Dyche has also said that Andre Gomes, who scored the winner against Crystal Palace in the last round, has suffered a fresh calf injury. The Portuguese midfielder has had problems with his calf but it has been confirmed that this is a new one.
He will also be without right-back Seamus Coleman, Ashley Young and Abdoulaye Doucoure for the next match.
“Seamus probably not for this weekend,” he explained. “Youngy got through a game last night, 75 minutes, which is good news, but probably not for the weekend, and obviously Doucs a bit longer term.
“So unfortunately the games programme eventually, probably you can’t actually define it for sure, but somewhere down the line these injuries often seem to be after a heavy game schedule, so that’s the way it goes. But we will work with what we’ve got and continue pushing forwards.”
Premier League survival is, of course, the main priority this season.
The Toffees can ill-afford to get relegated in any given campaign, never mind when they are about to move into a new stadium.
A cup run can be beneficial in some ways. It can allow managers to experiment with fringe players, and get the supporters dreaming while pocketing some cash along the way.
However, given the injury pile-up currently, a cup run could be more of a hindrance rather than a benefit.
That said, the fans who descend to Goodison Park on Saturday will be willing for their side to beat Luton and reach the fifth round of the competition.
