Everton manager Sean Dyche is desperate to get Seamus Coleman back in the side as the club battle relegation.
The Republic of Ireland international has missed the last three matches with a hamstring problem since suffering the injury against Manchester United in early April. Since that time, the Toffees have accumulated just a single point and find themselves in 19th position, two points from safety.
The Irish captain is expected to be fit to regain his place in the team and bolster a flank on which has seen stand-ins Mason Holgate, who was sent off for two yellow cards at Selhurst Park, and Ben Godfrey struggle at times.
READ MORE:
The 34-year-old is also the most progressive option of the three when it comes to being confident enough to overlap in attack but it is his experience which may be most needed as they head into a must-win game against fellow strugglers Leicester.
“He’s a very important player with his history and understanding of the club,” said Dyche.
“He has been a loss for us so we do look forward to him being back. Until the second goal (in Thursday’s 4-1 home defeat by Newcastle) it was a very good performance but after the second goal that’s the big challenge for me.
“Where did the mentality go? How quickly did that change? Who re-grips it? Who in our team goes ‘right, OK, let’s re-grip what we’re doing here’ because we weren’t a million miles away? You can’t wait for it to happen.”
READ NEXT:
Shane Dowling column: Job Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans have done in Tipperary cannot be overstated
€500,000 horse going to Gordon Elliott after record breaking sale at Punchestown
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts