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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Joe Thomas

Seamus Coleman role in survival fight explained as Sean Dyche gives honest view on Everton future

Sean Dyche Seamus Coleman Everton EPL Sam Allardyce Leicester

Seamus Coleman's focus is firmly on Everton's Premier League survival and not his long-term future, according to Sean Dyche.

The defender is out of contract in the summer and is not expected to play again this season after suffering ligament damage in the game with Leicester City. Initial analysis revealed the knee issue was not as severe as first feared and he is expected to see a specialist on Friday for an opinion on whether surgery will be the best pathway for his recovery.

While his future may be unresolved, Dyche said the current focus of both the club captain and Everton was on Premier League survival and that he had no doubt the 34-year-old would play a major role in the coming weeks, even if he is unable to play.

Coleman was carried off the pitch during the first half of Everton’s draw at the King Power Stadium on Monday after a clumsy challenge by Boubakary Soumaré. Despite appearing to be in agony the defender still sought to rally the away end from his stretcher as he left the pitch. His loss is a significant blow for Everton after the club struggled to cope with his three-game absence to injury last month. He is known to be a leader off the pitch as well as on it though, with former Blues boss Frank Lampard heaping praise on Coleman for the role he played behind the scenes in the successful relegation fight last season.

Dyche, who said he did not expect Coleman to feature again before the end of the season, is still confident his squad will benefit from the player’s personality and experience at the height of the relegation battle.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, Dyche said he had already sought Coleman’s views on the coming weeks since the Leicester game and added: “I had a chat with him [on Thursday] about it, some of his thoughts. Firstly he knows the club in and out, the feel of it, the story of it, but he is also a very knowledgeable Premier League player and he has a really good manner about him. He is really honest and authentic, he is one of the pros you want around the group because the younger players can see that and learn as they go through the ups and downs of their own development.

"They can see someone who has been through it all and still doing it. Now he will be affecting it in a different way. We will still be involving him, still be chatting to him and he will still be rubbing off on the players I can assure you.”

Coleman’s deal at Everton expires this summer and what happens next remains unclear for a player who has spent 14 years at Goodison Park and has started work on his coaching badges.

Asked whether talks had taken place over a new deal, Dyche said the main priority was currently Everton’s survival in the top flight: “I think you can well imagine that Seamus’ focus is what is going on with the team. He is certainly not getting involved in that with me. Like all the players, we are having communication with the relevant people and their agents but Seamus’ focus is solely on the club as you can imagine. Being the servant he is to the club, and the way he is, he hasn’t even had one question to me about it.”

Asked whether the club had sought to push for discussions, Dyche added: “Likewise, the focus is on the team, the focus is on the outcomes, that is what we are looking to do. We don't want to clutter that with anything other than being respectful and truthful with the players. I believe in that and that is what I have told them. The focus has to be on what I am doing.”

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