Everton is being cautious with Nathan Patterson as he continues to recover from a “unusual” long-term injury, and Sean Dyche has explained why.
The right-back has not played a first-team game for six months. He ruptured his hamstring during a 6-0 loss against Chelsea last April. Patterson was forced to have surgery, missing the European Championships with Scotland, and has been on the recovery trail since.
There is light at the end of the tunnel for the ex-Rangers man, though. He has played twice for Everton under-21s, featuring for around an hour in both games. But it is unlikely that Patterson will be in the Toffees’ match-day squad for tomorrow’s Premier League clash against Newcastle United given the severity and complexity of his setback.
Dyche said: “Patto’s was a different kind of injury. It was quite a serious injury on a tendon, which is unusual and needed surgery on a tendon. Therefore it needs more time. Coming back to true fitness & sharpness after six months which is a long time to be out.
He’s on a games programme. He hadn’t done as much of the support training. Although he can play a bit quicker than Jarrad, he hadn’t done as my sports-science hours. We made a decision on Jarrad (Branthwaite, who returned in last week’s 2-1 win over Crystal Palace) and he felt right, Patto knows he’s still searching for true fitness and sharpness. There’s more to it, a different injury and the recovery is treated differently as well.”
Patterson joined Everton from Rangers for £12 million in January 2022. His Goodison career has been stuttering because of various injury issues and has also found himself out of favour when available.
Sections of supporters want to see the 22-year-old given a sustained run in the starting line-up to showcase his talent. Dyche accepts Patterson joined the Blues to be a Premier League regular but he must first fully get up to speed before being given the chance.
The Goodison chief added: “It’s about him getting fit and his form right to go and play. The first thing is to get him to that fitness level and having such a long spell out, there’s a push and pull scenario; making sure he gets that true Premier League fitness but being a little bit careful with the nature of his injury.
“When he’s there, we start looking at him pushing forward and make it his own when he’s going to play and he’s going to grow into the Premier League with Everton. That’s certainly what he came here for. He’s got some good players and very experienced players there. It’s not all click your fingers and it works. There is a bit of work to be done but the first thing is to get him fit because he’s had a tough run at it with this injury and it’s not easy.”
