Sean Dyche has denied Everton’s friendly defeat by Chester underlines the lack of quality at his disposal for the club’s latest fight against relegation.
Everton arranged a behind-closed-doors game against the National League North team on Tuesday to improve Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s match fitness after 11 weeks out with a hamstring injury. Eight first-team players with a combined 75 international caps were involved – Calvert-Lewin, Yerry Mina, Conor Coady, Nathan Patterson, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Tom Davies, Mason Holgate and Ellis Simms – and failed to break down a five-man defence in a 1-0 defeat.