Dominic Calvert-Lewin will have a say over when he returns to action for Everton.
The 25-year-old has been unavailable since playing the opening hour of the first game of Sean Dyche’s Blues reign, the 1-0 win over Arsenal. He is nearing a comeback from a hamstring issue and is now training on the grass at Finch Farm after several weeks of rehabilitation work.
His new boss said the striker is making positive progress but, having repeatedly stressed the value of giving Calvert-Lewin time to regain full fitness, it remains unclear whether he will be re-introduced before the trip to Chelsea on March 18. A 16-day break then follows that game. Calvert-Lewin will be part of the decision-making process over when he plays again, Dyche has now made clear.
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Speaking at Finch Farm ahead of Everton’s upcoming home game with Brentford, Dyche said Calvert-Lewin was “feeling good” and there were “positive signs”. He said a decision was yet to be made over whether he would be involved in the matchday squad for Brentford but emphasised the player had just stepped up his training.
Asked when Calvert-Lewin could return, Dyche - who has made clear his reluctance to discuss recovery timetables - said: "I will be envisaging him playing when all of the boxes are ticked.
"You can imagine now we have got every stat you can virtually think of - like most clubs. We have got an insights team that has probably got as much depth as other clubs as well, even the ones who are onto every physical stat. We can do that, check his records, check where he was at when he was flying, where his body was at - through his stats, speak to the player, ask him where he is at, how he is feeling.
"At the end of the day we can work with the medics, and we have got a fine staff here, and have all the modern use of technology as in scans and everything, but he is a human being and I believe in asking the player, going 'right, where are you at with it?' And usually when they feel right about it, it is a massive plus. So that is what I am looking to do.”
Calvert-Lewin has endured an injury-plagued 18 months. His campaign last year was blighted by fitness concerns before a knee injury ruled him out of the opening months of this season after a promising pre-season. He came off after an hour in the home win over Arsenal in February and is yet to play again under Dyche due to the hamstring issue.
Dyche again reiterated the importance of not rushing Calvert-Lewin back and, as his fitness builds, Everton will have to balance introducing Calvert-Lewin to help solve the team’s goalscoring issues and giving him the best chance of returning to full fitness. The break after the Chelsea game may be deemed to be a useful additional period to help Calvert-Lewin regain full strength.
Dyche added: “He is only just back on the grass with us, he has done real good rehab work... he is fit, basic fitness you understand not true Premier League fitness that comes with playing, and he seems like he is in a healthy place at the minute for him, for us, for what it is. The next step is now layering on top of that and that's the bit where it is now the crossover period, we start to go to him more and go 'right, how are you feeling, is your body feeling right etc etc'. So we are just putting as many things in place.”
Dyche added there was an intent to learn from previous attempts to bring Calvert-Lewin back into action. He said: “I've got to look at something different so it seems to me the different thing is time. That is unfortunate but that is a fact. I've looked at the stats, I've looked at the recovery periods, I've looked at how quickly he has gone into games, probably being desperate to play - most players are desperate to play - and sometimes they make a decision too early. I've got to monitor that as well and learn from what the past was because if we do that again, and something happens again, well then you haven't learnt anything, you haven't done anything different, so we have got to look at that."
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