Sean Dyche “absolutely” trusts his players to perform against Bournemouth.
Everton host the Cherries with the club’s Premier League status at risk. The consequences of relegation would be so severe that the final day match is billed as being among the biggest in the club’s history.
A win would guarantee survival for the Blues and Dyche is confident his players have what it takes to get the job done at Goodison Park.
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Asked why he had such faith in a team that enters the final weekend of the season in such peril, Dyche said: "Because we have built an honesty within the group and staff, pulling in the right direction - that feeling in a group. Trusting ourselves and trusting each other is a big part of any team game. And there is a trust there.”
Dyche, who went into his first game as Everton boss with the side three points from safety having collected just 15 from the first 20 games, has built resilience into his squad. That has been evident across a host of fixtures since his appointment in late January, perhaps most clearly in the battling displays that earned important points against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers - where a 99th minute Yerry Mina goal secured a valuable draw.
Dyche also pointed to the shock win away at Brighton and Hove Albion, a game few gave Everton a chance of taking a positive result from. He said: "The glue that holds it together is the work ethic, the belief in it, the design. You saw a great example in the Brighton game - they trusted each other to go and deliver a performance and did it very well.”
He suggested his faith came less from trust in the players’ personalities but in “the details” - in working to provide them with the essentials needed to underpin progress. One of his core principles has been to provide consistency, both in terms of matchday preparation and the response to final scores - Dyche has cited the turbulence of a dressing room that was too emotional after victories and defeat as a key area he sought to address upon his arrival.
The belief he has instilled in players offers him comfort - as does recent performances. Dyche said: "I thought for a lot of the Wolves and Leicester games we did very well and actually, it sounds mad because they are top of the tree, I thought we played very well for a lot of the Man City game. They are just top of the tree, they find things that other teams don't find. A lot of the performances have been appropriate and right. It is the detail, that is the thing that is really important. That is not about trust. That is just individuals finding the right details.”
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