“Everton Rally to Draw in Final Friendly, But Injury Woes for Captain Coleman Loom Large”
The Toffees managed to equalize a first-half goal by Lorenzo Pellegrini with a strike from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, resulting in a 1-1 draw in their final pre-season friendly at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
“The first half was a bit slow, which is sometimes expected in pre-season, but I thought the second half was much better,” Dyche told evertontv about his team’s performance. “We saw a lot of positive habits. It was a soft goal by our standards, but overall, I think it was a decent performance, with some encouraging signs from the new players at the club.”
However, one concern was club captain Coleman limping off after 32 minutes due to an injury.
Coleman, who has been at Goodison Park for 15 years and made over 400 appearances for Everton, is a highly respected and influential figure. Losing his leadership just before the 2024/25 Premier League season would be a setback for Everton, but Dyche remains optimistic that the 72-time Republic of Ireland international’s injury isn’t too severe.
“Unfortunately, it looks like he tweaked his calf,” said Dyche. “We’re not sure how serious it is yet, but I don’t think it’s too bad based on how he came off. We’ll just have to hope for the best.”
Everton will kick off their 2024/25 campaign at home against Brighton on Saturday.