WIN OR BUST

The equation is simple for Everton, but achieving that one final victory gets more and more complicated every day

THE equation is simple. A win... and Everton are safe in the Premier League for another season.

Yet, the route to securing that massive victory at a packed, and passionate, Goodison Park gets more complicated with every minute that ticks down to what is regarded as a £100million relegation showdown. That is the “unbridgeable” gap between the top flight and the Championship calculated by EFL chairman Rick Parry – and puts into context just what is at stake for the Merseyside club as they go toe-to-toe with relegation rivals Leeds and Leicester. No wonder manager Sean Dyche is urgently waiting on fitness bulletins after his depleted squad took yet another buffeting last Saturday, even as they took a small step closer to safety.

It looks increasingly unlikely that Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Nathan Patterson will be available for the game against Bournemouth on Sunday, with the pair suffering hamstring injuries at Wolves.

Neither trained in the early part of the week as they did rehab, in a desperate attempt to get fit enough to feature in the final game of the season... and what could still be Everton’s final Premier League game for a while.

For Dyche, though, nothing matters more at this stage than the character of his team, not the identity of the players tasked in yet another attempt at a great escape.

The former Burnley boss knows all about the pressure of these situations, and he suggested it is all about mental strength, even if the Blues are down to the walking wounded. “The main thing for me is the mentality,” he said.

“I can’t emphasise that enough. We changed the shape three or four times in the second half at Wolves and we’re asking a lot of the players. They were clear-minded, and kept going and going.

“Every time we changed because of injuries, there were no excuses from the players. They adapted and got what could be an important point.”

Dyche faces a real defensive headache, with his skipper Seamus Coleman out for the season. Vitalii Mykolenko has missed the last two games and Ben Godfrey has been absent for a month.

Everton are scrambling to make up a defence, with forward Dwight McNeil forced to play at left-back and centrehalf Michael Keane deployed along the back line before going up front at Wolves.

But Dyche is sticking to the adage that it’s down to holding their nerve now, and showing the mentality to get through one final push.

“It’s about mentality and commitment now – it’s within us to take care of ourselves and that’s what we are going to do,” he said.