Everton star Dwight McNeil dismisses 'bizarre' claims…

Everton star Dwight McNeil dismisses 'bizarre' claims of Sean Dyche fallout

Dwight McNeil has dismissed claims he fell out with Sean Dyche while the pair were at Burnley.

McNeil moved to Merseyside in the summer, just a few months after Dyche was dismissed from Turf Moor as Burnley faced a relegation battle they would ultimately lose.

The two were re-united at Goodison Park when Dyche took over from Frank Lampard in January, leading to claims they did not get along resurfacing. Dyche has laughed off the speculation and McNeil has now addressed it himself.

McNeil played more than 100 Premier League games under Dyche at Burnley, the manager introducing him to senior football and maintaining faith in him throughout their time at the Lancashire side. McNeil featured in every game for Burnley last season and was a second half substitute in both Dyche's final game in charge, a 2-0 defeat at Norwich City, and the 3-2 win over Everton before it.

McNeil, who was on the fringe of the Everton first team under Lampard, has started each of the four Blues games Dyche has overseen and was singled out for praise once again by his boss after the defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.

Discussing their relationship in an interview with his club, McNeil disputed suggestions there was a rift between them as "bizarre". He said: "I've known him from 17. That's quite a long time to have known someone in the football world so it's good - he knows what he wants from me and I know what he wants from me and the group, so we have got that good healthy balance. It was good to have a catch up with him on day one even though there was outside noise that we didn't get along, which was a bit bizarre."

Asked further about the claimed dispute between him and Dyche, McNeil added: "I think you will have to ask whoever wrote it because it is just not true. We left on good terms and then when he came back we had a good chat and I spoke to Woany and Stoney [backroom staff Ian Woan and Steve Stone] as well. It was good to have a catch up with everyone."

Dyche himself has quashed claims of a fallout with the 23-year-old, who set up another former Burnley man James Tarkowski for the goal against Arsenal that gave Dyche his first win as Blues boss. He said: "I’ve never fallen out with anyone, certainly not Dwighty. I gave him his debut and didn’t leave him out for over 100 games. It must have been some falling out. I didn’t fall out with anyone, just didn’t win enough games."

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