Nathan Patterson has been ruied out for the remainder of the season and is now a significant doubt for Scotland’s Euro 2024 squad after suffering a serious hamstring injury in Monday’s dreadful defeat to Chelsea.
The full-back was making a rare appearance off the bench as a second-half substitute at Stamford Bridge as Sean Dyche made changes to a side that was on its way to Everton’s biggest defeat for almost 20 years but he pulled up feeling his thigh after the hosts scored their sixth goal.
Sean Dyche confirmed the unfortunate diagnosis in his press conference at Finch Farm today, saying that Patterson will require surgery on the injury which would mean the Scot faces a pontentially unwinnable race against time to be fit for his country’s involvement in Germany this summer.
There was better news for Jarrad Branthwaite, however, who is expected to shrug off a knock that forced his withdrawal from the match as a precaution and Dyche hopes to have Idrissa Gueye and Dominic Calvert-Lewin back for Sunday’s huge game against rivals to beat the drop, Nottingham Forest.
Both Gueye and Calvert-Lewin missed the drubbing by Chelsea with a tight calf and hamstring respectively, with the Senegal international also being absent for the home win over Burnley the weekend before following the birth of his child.