Sean Dyche Confirms Fresh Everton Injury Setback and Reveals Three Players Sidelined by Illness
Sean Dyche revealed that James Tarkowski missed Everton’s Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton due to a back injury.
The Toffees were eliminated in the third round after a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park, losing 6-5 in a penalty shootout.
Everton’s struggles continued, having yet to secure a Premier League point this season, and they were without several key players for the Southampton clash.
Dyche is optimistic that Tarkowski will recover in time for their upcoming trip to Leicester City on Saturday.
“It’s his back. He’s been pushing through it. We’re hopeful it settles down in time for the weekend,” the Everton boss stated.
In addition to injuries, Everton was hit by illness on the morning of the match. Vitalii Mykolenko, who had been forced off in their previous game against Aston Villa, did not recover in time.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and James Garner also had to withdraw from the squad due to a sickness bug.
Jarrad Branthwaite, Nathan Patterson, Seamus Coleman, Youssef Chermiti, and Armando Broja were also sidelined with injuries, further depleting the squad.
Dyche acknowledged the difficulties of the situation, saying, “We wanted to win the game, and we didn’t, even though it went to penalties, which is always tricky.”
Dyche explained how the morning illnesses forced him to reshuffle the team last minute.
“We had to piece together the team this morning with three players going down ill. We gave everything we could with the players available.
We had only 12 senior outfield players fit, so it was a challenge to put together a side that could perform,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, Dyche praised his team’s effort, noting, “Some of the play was good at times.
We created enough chances to win the game, but we didn’t take them, and when it goes to penalties, anything can happen.”
He remained focused on the goal of winning, regardless of the obstacles. “Injury and illness aside, I still want to win.
Hopefully, we can get the three players back. It seems to be a passing bug, but at times, it feels like everything is against you,” Dyche concluded.
