Both Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson mentioned their lack of recent action for Everton in interviews while on international duty this week, with the Club captain admitting he won’t “throw my toys out the pram” over not being selected by Sean Dyche.
Coleman says he has had a couple of niggles but has been fit for a number of weeks now despite having only made two substitute appearances since his last start against Aston Villa in January.
Patterson, meanwhile, hasn’t started a game since the FA Cup defeat to Luton Town at the end of that month and hasn’t featured at all since coming on as a late substitute at Fulham three days later.
In the interim, Dyche has preferred Ben Godfrey, a centre-half by trade, as a makeshift right-back but his lack of attacking output has made fans question the wisdom of that decision, particularly as the defensive solidity that has characterised the team since the manager took over has ebbed away in recent fixtures.
“I’ve been fit for the last 8, 10 weeks I’d say, it’s just a case of not being selected – which is fine, that happens,” Coleman said after being named the Republic of Ireland’s man of the match in their 1-0 friendly defeat to Switzerland last night. “I don’t know how long I’ve been back fit but I’ve been back fit for a while now.
“It was just good to get over here and get some minutes, and feel like I’m ready to go for the next 10 games of the season.
“You always want to be out there. It’s a club thing and you support the lads at all times. I’ve been there before where I’ve not been playing and I’m not one of them that’s going to throw my toys out of the pram, I’m one of them that supports everyone.
“Ultimately, Everton is the main goal for me, not what’s at stake for me individually. It’s about the team. We’ve got 10 games now to go back, stick together as a group and keep working hard as a group.
“We’ve been there before and we know what it takes, but you’ve got to have a real understanding that we have to work hard between now and the end of the season.”
For his part, Patterson made similar comments following Scotland’s home friendly which they lost by a single goal to Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the young Everton gave the ball away near his own byline which contributed directly to Conor Bradley’s winner and he admitted that this is the most challenging period of his career so far.
“Obviously I’m not playing as much as I would like to play but sometimes that’s just football and I’m not the type of person that will just give up,” the former Rangers player said.
“I’ll keep training hard and working hard and try and make sure I give myself the best opportunity to get game time. Obviously I came away here and played Friday night and will hopefully get more game time on Tuesday.”
His international boss, Steve Clarke, was asked after the match at Hampden Park whether he felt Patterson was rusty from not having playbed much football recently.
“Possibly, possibly not enough games,” Clarke agreed. “but I thought he did well in the game. He did fantastic to get back in (and retrieve the ball after he had given it away before the goal). He did well and then he picked the wrong option. It happens, if you are not playing.
“But he is a young player who we know will be part of what we are trying to do in the future. He will learn.”