Sean Dyche has defended his lack of substitutions during Everton's draw with Leicester City on Monday - insisting "the team was operating in the manner I wanted".
The Blues played out a pulsating 2-2 draw with their fellow Premier League relegation rivals at the King Power Stadium thanks to goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi, either side of Jamie Vardy and Caglar Soyuncu's first-half strikes.
But some sections of the Blues' fanbase have been left irritated by Dyche's reluctance to call upon players on the substitutes' bench during his time at Goodison Park - with the 51-year-old making just one change in the Midlands on Monday as Nathan Patterson replaced the injured Seamus Coleman.
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Over the last three games, it takes Dyche's number of substitutes to six out of a possible 15. Meanwhile, Everton's opponents - Leicester City, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace - have used 11 from 15.
Asked about his supposed unwillingness to make changes, and more recently on Monday night as the Blues boss snubbed the services of Demarai Gray, Neal Maupay and Ellis Simms, Dyche said: "The team was operating in the manner that you want it to operate in. I thought there was only one team who were going to go on and win it on the night. That was my feeling, my opinion of it. So the team is operating in the right manner.
"Sometimes you've got to be careful. You know the stats on substitutes is not what you think, you know? The stats on changing subs into games is not what you think. I know stats - so you've got to be careful."
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