Everton face a right-back crisis for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
Sean Dyche has ruled out Roman Dixon coming to Everton's rescue as they face a right-back crisis for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Toffees' 2024-25 Premier League campaign started with a 3-0 loss against Brighton at Goodison Park. And to compound Everton's misery, Ashley Young was given a straight red card and must serve a one-match suspension.
Sign up to our Everton FC newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to LiverpoolWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
The Blues travel to Tottenham on Saturday without a recognised right-sided full-back. Young is banned while Seamus Coleman (calf) and Nathan Patterson (hamstring) are injured. James Garner is a centre-midfielder but has played full-back previously for Everton and England under-21s - yet has a calf issue of his own.
Dixon, 19, was part of Dyche's squad throughout pre-season and featured in several friendlies. He was not on the bench against Brighton, though, and featured for the under-21s in a 3-1 win over Blackburn the night previously.
But when asked if he could turn to the academy to ease Everton's issues, Dyche admitted it is unlikely. The Goodison boss said: “It’s a big ask for under-21s to dive straight in but we’ll certainly have to look at the best available options. Certainly for the next week. You never know for the cup game and two weeks' time.”
Unless Dyche opts to deploy an alternative formation, Mason Holgate is likely to feature at right-back against Tottenham. The defender was loaned to Southampton and Sheffield United last term, while he's fifth choice in the centre-back pecking order.
Holgate came off the bench in the 85th minute against Brighton as Dyche was already thinking about the Tottenham game. He added: “The squad is what it is. We have added to it and tried to find a balance but have been a bit unfortunate with injuries.
“None of them apart from Youssef [Chermiti’s] are drastic but they are all two or three weeks and that can cost you at this early stage when you’ve got the games coming and have just finished pre-season.”