James Garner is pushing for his first Premier League start as he continues his fightback from a serious back injury.
The 22-year-old is desperate to make an impression for Everton after recovering from a stress fracture that ruled him out of the opening months of 2023. Before then his quest for match fitness and the form of Alex Iwobi, Idrissa Gueye and Amadou Onana had limited his initial opportunities to break through.
Now, under Sean Dyche, he is approaching full fitness and has a potential pathway into the starting line-up with one of the new manager’s favoured central midfielders, Abdoulaye Doucoure, currently suspended. Garner is confident he can “add value” to the team - and that his coaches know that.
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Garner was a summer transfer deadline day signing for Frank Lampard as the former Blues boss convinced him to move to Merseyside from Manchester United. He made his debut at Goodison Park against his former side, coming off the bench in the 2-1 defeat in October. But his first start - the Carabao Cup defeat at Bournemouth the following month - was clouded by a back injury that prevented him from travelling to Australia with the senior squad during the World Cup break and which ruled him out well into the new year.
He is now approaching full fitness, however, and has been introduced as a substitute by Dyche in Everton’s last two games - including at Old Trafford on Saturday. Those valuable minutes followed opportunities for England Under-21s during the international break. For Garner, the time on the pitch is evidence of his progress. He told the Everton website: “I’m getting stronger every week, and training every day, which helps. The last two games, I’ve come on, so I’m getting stronger each week and I’m just pushing now for that start. I had a little bit of a stress fracture, and I was out for three months or so. I’ve never had an injury like that, so for me it was tough. Like I say, I’ve never been injured, so not being able to play and train was tough. I’m back fit now and I’m raring to go.”
There is a chance Dyche could turn to Garner for the upcoming home game against Fulham. Since his appointment in late January the former Burnley manager has moved Iwobi to the right and built his team around a centre midfield of Doucoure, Gueye and Onana. Doucoure’s suspension after his red card against Tottenham Hotspur forced Dyche to change that midfield setup for the first time in his 10 games in charge at Old Trafford, moving to a central midfield two of Onana and Gueye. But the ease with which the hosts created chances in what became a comfortable 2-0 home win may push Dyche into a rethink, one that could see Garner start in a return to a three-man central midfield. Garner believes the coaching team is aware of his ability, and said: “I spoke to him [Dyche] a little bit, but I’ve not really had that many chats with him. He’s watched me a lot and so did the staff, so hopefully they know I’m a decent player and that I can add value to the team.”
Dyche already had a foundation of knowledge about Garner before he arrived at Everton. Following his departure from Burnley last season he spent a lot of time watching Nottingham Forest, where Garner was on loan. Asked about Garner’s performance on Saturday, Dyche said: “It was a cameo role really, I mean he has had 20 minutes, him and [Tom Davies] have come on chasing the game. We really worked hard and tried to get something out of it but it is good to see him back fit and he will get fitter and sharper.”
Speaking previously about his hopes for Garner, Dyche also referred to the necessity of match ‘sharpness’ but highlighted the strengths he was aware the player had: “He’s still learning about the Premier League. I think he has maybe eight appearances in the Premier League so he still has a lot to learn. He is a new player to it. From what I saw, and I did see him quite a bit at Forest, he’s got a good engine and running strength, he can strike a very good ball and he is calm in possession and he will cover the yards. Getting to that true sharpness is the next step but his knowledge of the Premier League is limited just by the fact he has played a lot in the Championship. The Premier League is different. But I saw a lot of him at Forest and I think he is a very good player and I think that now that he is fit again and hopefully stays fit he will continue to sharpen through the training we put on and the day-to-day work that we do.”
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