The FA Cup Run Begins!

Everton travel to Selhurst Park to face Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace side in the third round of the FA Cup.

Following an eight-game run with no wins in the league, Palace ended 2023 on a high in their last game as they came from behind to beat Brentford 3-1.

Everton, on the other hand, were destroyed by Wolves 3-0 in a disappointing performance away from home.

Sean Dyche talked to evertontv regarding injury updates, and here is what he had to say:

“Idrissa Gueye probably will go to AFCON. He’s still here at the moment, undergoing treatment, but if that treatment comes to an end by early next week then it is within [Senegal’s] power to call him up.

Dele’s being assessed, he’s got an injury that still needs time. Youngy has been out on the grass but on the medical side. He’s still got a bit to go but it’s nice to see him back out on the grass.”

He also expressed that he is annoyed by the number of games in December and the lack of them in January.

“We have a break this weekend but that’s just because of the Palace game. After the Villa game is the actual winter break. I don’t see the point of it when you’ve just had so many games in December. It’s not that beneficial. It would be better to lose one or two of these games in December and put them in there to spread it out. That’s a better scenario.

"It’s a more level playing field then. With more games, the big clubs are bound to gain because of their big squads. But when you haven’t got a big squad, like us, and you get injuries, you’re bound to be stretched. If you put a couple of games in that break then it is more level across the season. I’ll be surprised if that break doesn’t disappear, just from the scheduling.”

Roy Hodgson has massive respect for Dyche, as he says in his press confrence:

"I think he's done an excellent job, there's no question of that… and not least of all in this most recent period when he has had to face the body blow, really, of being told that you're doing okay in the league, but we're going to take 10 points from you.

“I think he and the team have reacted quite brilliantly to that. He's just a very good manager. He knows the job, he knows what needs to be done and he has the ability to engender those results with the players he works with, and to get the players believing in what needs to be done in his team to win matches.

“He’s done that at Burnley for very many years and now he's doing it at Everton, so I like him. I have enormous respect for him. I think he's an outstanding manager, but I'm only really saying everything which anyone else in this league who's worked either with him or played against him would say.”

Even though it seems a little out of reach, Roy Hodgson was asked about winning the whole thing, and here is what he had to say:

"It would be lovely. I mean everything you can do in that respect for fans, they'd like to say that their club has won a trophy, so of course that would be a great thing to be able to offer them.

“We can only do our best. We can only do what we can do. We can only play with the players that we have available and put our best foot forward in the games. If you're talking about the dream and hope, of course that would be a big dream."

“But first we've got to get past a pretty difficult hurdle in the shape of Everton, who've been playing exceptionally well and in particular been getting very good results away from home.”

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