Everton boss Sean Dyche has revealed that the club are sweating on the fitness of forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin following the weekend’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.
The England forward was substituted with just over an hour played against the Gunners, and could be a doubt for the forthcoming trip to Anfield for the Merseyside derby.
The 25-year-old has struggled for fitness for the past 18 months and will be assessed by the medical staff at Finch Farm ahead of next Monday’s game against Liverpool, though Dyche insists that any injury sustained may not be too “drastic”.
Regarding DCL’s fitness for the derby, the Everton boss said, “We will have to wait and see. I don’t think it is a drastic one but he needs to settle it down so we will probably give it two days before we scan it just as a precaution at this stage.”
The new Everton boss also revealed that he has spoken with Calvert-Lewin and outlined a plan to ensure the Toffees number 9 rediscovers the form that saw him score 21 goals during the 2020/21 campaign.
Dyche continued, “We just had a chat with him to see where he is at, see how he is feeling about things.
“His body is getting stronger. He’s niggled his hamstring which was a risk and reward situation because he’s been a bit up and down with that.
“We said just give us a chance to work with you and you will get stronger.”
There is no doubt of Calvert-Lewin’s ability when fit, though his injury record makes him far too unreliable.
Should the Blues be without the centre-forward for the Merseyside derby, the club would only have themselves to blame for failing to recruit during the January transfer window.
Everton fans were desperate for the board to financially back the new manager, and the Blues now have to sweat on the fitness of DCL for the derby next week.
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