Tim Iroegbunam has set his sights on claiming the midfield spot left vacant after Idrissa Gana Gueye’s departure. He hopes to hold on to the place in the starting XI even after the Senegalese midfielder returns from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 22-year-old is well aware that it won’t be an easy task. Gana, although he has had major ups and downs this season, was Everton’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season last term and is one of the first names on the team sheet for manager David Moyes.
“I always look up to Idrissa, but I'm hoping I can show what I can so that when he comes back, I'm giving the gaffer a reason to not put him straight back in,” said Iroegbunam.
“That's on me. That's my opportunity. I’ve just got to go and grab it.”
Gana and Ndiaye were unavailable for last weekend’s clash against Arsenal at home. Everton suffered a 1-0 loss to the league leaders, with Viktor Gyokeres’ first-half penalty proving decisive.
Iroegbunam started and played the entire 90, made the most tackles (seven), won eight of his 11 duels and had a passing accuracy of 68%. Reflecting on his own display, he said, “I worked hard, put in good tackles, carried the team forwards at some points. Obviously, I wouldn't say it was a perfect performance.
“I've been in and out of the team. I missed the [Nottingham Forest] game because I had five yellow cards. I feel like today I did a quite-decent job.
“There's still loads to come, but I feel like it's definitely a performance to bounce on from.”
Iroegbunam’s performance also caught the eye of Moyes, who, while praising the 22-year-old, also asked him to be more positive and push forward.
“I thought Tim played well. I think Tim has played well at different times for us,” the Everton boss said after the game.
“We want him to look to play forward a bit more and be a bit more positive, but his retention of the ball and his work was very good and he's done a good job against Declan [Rice] tonight.”
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