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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Stephen Killen & Richard Garnett

Dominic Calvert-Lewin 'recovery' latest as Sean Dyche gives triple Everton injury update

Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains sidelined for Everton, as the Blues prepare to take on league leaders Arsenal in North London on Wednesday evening.

And manager Sean Dyche has continued to refuse to put a timescale on his return, but called on his team to produce goals from elsewhere.

Calvert-Lewin's only appearance under Dyche came on February 4 during the new Everton manager's first game in charge - a 1-0 victory against the same opposition at Goodison Park, but after being forced off just past the hour mark he has not pulled on a blue shirt since.

When asked about the striker's ongoing rehabilitation ahead of the trip to the Emirates on Wednesday, Dyche simply responded by saying: "He's recovering" and when asked if he could provide a timescale, he added: "No".

READ MORE: Former Everton man with Premier League ambitions hoping for Wembley redemption

MORE FROM DYCHE: Every word the manager said in his Everton press conference for Arsenal

Everton are the Premier League's lowest scorers this season with only 17 goals in 24 matches - a statistic that has contributed to their current standing in the relegation zone. Calvert-Lewin has only been fit enough to appear in 11 of those matches, but Dyche insists that scoring goals is a wider issue that cannot just be pointed at the absence of the club's main striker.

Dyche said: "That's been a thing with the season. There's lots of work to be done. The team mentality has to be that we're all allowed to score. It's not just one player. I ask that from them defensively, to keep clean sheets and it starts with the front players working hard for the team, so therefore it's only fair to ask that the other way round.

"The players have got to take responsibility as a group, as we all do, in making enough chances and taking chances. I thought, since we've been here that stats have been better for getting bodies in the box, better for entries into the box, hopefully still trying to increase the quality of chance, but I think it's fair to say that we've been more productive in that area, but the clinical moment is the truth of the matter, finding that finish. And sometimes it's not always the purest, you can find a scruffy one. It sometimes releases the pressure of scoring.

"The other thing I've said to the players is, for all the noise you've heard about you not scoring, that statistically increases your chances of scoring. It doesn't go on forever. You look at any team, they have spells when they score goals and if it's dried up for a while then every game that goes by, it increases your chances that you do start scoring. Stats and facts of football, the ebbs and flows - I've seen it all. I think that's an important factor to remember."

Dyche was also asked to provide an update on the possible returns of midfielder James Garner and defender Nathan Patterson, with both players involved in an Everton U21s match last week. But while ex-Manchester United Academy graduate Garner is close to a return and could figure for the U21s against PSV this week, Patterson may need a little longer.

Dyche said: "They've been out a while, so they both need games. Jimmy's going well, he's getting fitter and stronger. There's another game this week, so we'll probably get him in that one, then we can probably say after three months out he's classed as fit, if you like. He's going well. Patto's just a bit behind, so he'll need a bit more than that."

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