Everton's kit man was reportedly forced to pay a trip to Sports Direct - after Sean Dyche's new training regime caught the club unawares.
The new Blues boss is renowned for his no-nonsense approach to the game and quickly implemented his own robust training methods last week.
That included new rules forbidding the wearing of snoods and hooded tops at Finch Farm and implementing full contract training during sessions. As a result of the latter, Dyche requested that all players wear shin-pads for training.
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The change in approach exposed an unexpected problem for the Toffees training staff when it apparently emerged that the club didn't have enough full length socks in stock to properly kit out the squad for full shin-pad drills.
As a result (as per the Mirror), Everton's kit man was forced to make a flying visit to Sports Direct - the nearest sports shop to Finch Farm - to buy some extra socks. He ran into further problems however, when the store did not have enough blue pairs in stock to meet demand, forcing the kit man to buy black ones instead.
Everton's brief training kit shortage issue did not disrupt their preparations for facing Arsenal, however. The struggling Toffees looked like a different side as they recorded a shock 1-0 victory against the league leaders that got Dyche's tenure at Goodison Park off to the perfect start and renewed hope that the Blues can avoid relegation this season.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match Dyche said: "It's all about the players and they are the focal point for me. They have taken a lot on this week. The minimum requirement is maximum effort and we saw that today.
"They have been in a position where it has not been nice for anyone. I still believe we can improve with our play. It gives us a platform to move forward. We have crammed a lot in this week. To get a win against top of the league... We managed to calm the game down. I want to them to understand the basics of the game."
With three points now banked against Mikel Arteta's side, Dyche is expected to have called the players into Finch Farm today for extra training. Whether they will still be in their black socks may depend on whether Sports Direct have restocked on the blue variation of the club's gear since the weekend.
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