Dominic Calvert-Lewin has heaped praise on Everton boss Sean Dyche for the way in which he has managed the forward’s injuries.
The £1.5m striker has had a troublesome couple of years as consistent injury woes sidelined the 26-year-old, with the England international available for just 34 Premier League games over the last two seasons.
The situation was compounded by the £60m sale of Richarlison to Spurs last summer, followed by Anthony Gordon’s £45m move to Newcastle United in January, as Everton’s attacking output shrunk.
The forward has clearly played through the pain barrier at times and was seemingly unable to fully recover from previous ailments before suffering another setback.
However, the 26-year-old has looked back to his best in recent weeks, and states that his improved fitness and form is ‘from the manager’, insisting that Sean Dyche’s trust and patience with him has ‘paid off so far’.
Fans will hope Calvert-Lewin can retain new found fitness under Dyche
Speaking in the official matchday programme from Everton’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday and reported via Liverpool World, DCL spoke of the difference Sean Dyche has made to his recovery from injury.
Calvert-Lewin said: “I think it turned into a bit of a vicious cycle. Now, since the manager came in, he’s been big on me trusting my body again and feeling good in my body.
It’s not about just ticking off the boxes in terms of being fit to play, it’s more about how I feel in myself. It took a lot of guts from the manager to bat off questions about me every week.
He put it to bed by saying I’d be back when I was ready and that gave me confidence and a bit of relief, really. It took the pressure off myself and removed that feeling of having to rush back.
I like to think it’s paid off so far. The condition that people see me now – that’s from the manager allowing me to get there.”
The Everton forward scored three goals in three consecutive games upon his return to fitness and put in another superb display in last week’s 3-0 win against Bournemouth.
There is no doubt that we are a much better side with a fully fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin leading the line, and Dyche’s patience with the striker does indeed appear to be paying off.