Sean Dyche is hoping to mastermind a huge win this weekend (Picture: Getty Images)
Everton are without three players for the Merseyside derby on Saturday, while Michael Keane is ‘touch and go’ as he deals with a knee injury.
It is set to be the last ever Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and the Toffees face a huge task against the Premier League leaders.
Sean Dyche’s side enjoyed a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Wolves on Wednesday and will look to take that form into the clash with their great rivals this weekend.
The Everton boss has ruled Youssef Chermiti (foot), Tim Iroegbunam (foot), and James Garner (back) out of the game, but hopes to have Keane available.
Speaking about the state of his squad after the win over Wolves, Dyche told a press conference: ‘A couple of knocks but nothing serious – nothing that we think is going to put anyone out.
‘Michael Keane will be touch and go coming back into it – he’s got a minor knee ligament injury which has kept him out.
‘Then Youssef [Chermiti] is getting stronger but not there yet, Tim [Iroegbunam] is a bit of a way behind and so is Jimmy Garner but they’re in process of getting back fit.’
Michael Keane is dealing with a knee problem (Picture: Getty Images)
Dyche does have on-loan striker Armando Broja available to him after he finally made his debut for the club as a substitute against Wolves.
The Albania international is not fully match fit yet, but is set to be involved in the squad.
‘We’ll learn about him because we haven’t seen hardly any of him,’ said Dyche of the Chelsea loanee. ‘He’s been out training with us for a couple of weeks but, obviously, we can only manage so many training sessions when we’ve got [three games] in a week.
Armando Broja finally made his Everton debut this week (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I like what I saw. I like what I’ve seen in training – his attitude towards it and his attitude to get fit. He’s worked very hard to get fit.
‘I thought he gave a good cameo last night [against Wolves] and he’s certainly a player who we want to [provide] internal pressure from the group – the more people you’ve got fit, the more internal pressure there is for players to play well all of the time. I hope that will stimulate others, including himself, to play well.’