29 October 2023 , 16:25
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Sean Dyche believes Dominic Calvert-Lewin is almost back to his best after he scored his 50th Premier League goal to sink West Ham.
And the Everton manager hopes the injury-prone striker, who has missed more than half of the previous two campaigns, is repaid for his hard work by enjoying a sustained spell of good health.
Dyche said: “Dom’s a very good player who has had a really tough couple of years. Collectively we’ve found a way of managing his comeback to true fitness.
“He’s very close now. You can tell that in the way he’s performed, his body language and his desire to do what he does. He looks sharper, he looks stronger and we hope it continues to pay him back. It’s a real good marker for him.”
Dyche dedicated the win to the family of Bill Kenwright, the chairman who passed away last Monday aged 78, but said he was wary of placing too much emotion on the game.
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“It was befitting to win with the week we’ve had and the sad loss of the chairman. That one certainly goes out to him and his family.
“I didn’t want to make it too emotional for the players. But they know. A lot of them had deep relationships with the chairman. They know the depth of the chairman’s love for the club.”
Meanwhile, David Moyes rued a failure to create enough chances after West Ham drew their first blank of the season. And the Scot believes his side, who have won just one of their past six in all competitions, may have issues against teams who deny them opportunities to counterattack.
Moyes says there is no reason to panic but there is a feeling opponents have figured out how to nullify their biggest strength. Their only attempt on target arrived in added time when substitute Said Benrahma saw a volley stopped by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a result but at the start of the season we won some really good games,” Moyes said. “Today we had more of the ball but we didn’t have it when we beat Chelsea and Brighton. Today we had more but I felt we weren’t able to open it up and have chances.
“In the early games we counterattacked. Our play has gotten better. We’ve built the ball quite well out from the back but when we got to the middle and final third we ran aground with getting really good chances.”