Sean Dyche singed out Nathan Patterson for praise after Everton's 5-1 win away at Brighton and Hove Albion earlier today.
The Scotland full-back was up against Kaoru Mitoma throughout the game and Dyche gushed over Patterson who "smothered" the Japanese star. The Toffees moved out the bottom three in the English Premier League with the win thanks to a double from Dwight McNeill and Abdoulaye Doucouré, and a first half own goal from Jason Steele. Sean Dyche's men now welcome Man City on Sunday, while they travel to Wolves next weekend then face Bournemouth at Goodison on the last day of the season.
Patterson, who replaced injured Seamus Coleman at full-back, played the full 90 minutes at the Amex Stadium and proved his worth for the Merseyside outfit in their battle for survival. The former Rangers player will be hoping to maintain his place in the Everton team until the end of the season in order to make Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Georgia and Norway.
Speaking after Everton's win, Dyche told BT Sport: "There was a lot of good performances tonight, but a really good collective performance. I thought Pato was terrific, coming in for Seamus who has been amazing since he got to the club.
"Mitoma has been arguably one of the best wide players in the Premier League this year and I though Pato was tremendous. Smothered him when he could and stayed tuned in when he had to when the ball was on the other side."
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