Sean Dyche sent a personal message of support to Roy Hodgson after the Crystal Palace boss was taken ill at the club’s training ground this week.
Hodgson was taken to hospital on Thursday and club officials have since said he was in a stable condition and undergoing tests. It remains unclear who will take charge of Palace when they visit Goodison Park on Monday.
Ahead of that game Dyche said he had contacted Hodgson to wish him the best and had also been in contact with his assistant Ray Lewington.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Dyche said: “I certainly wish him well. I sent a message and briefly spoke to Ray Lewington on a message and I believe things are OK at the minute but we wish him well and we want that before anything. A great guy, someone I respect greatly, and we are hoping that he recovers. When the game comes around we have to look beyond that; it’s an important game and the points are important to us but bigger than the game is certainly his health and I hope he is well and he comes through it with no problems.”
Hodgson’s position had been under scrutiny heading into the fixture with questions over his management with his side slipping towards the relegation battle after a run of two wins in 13 matches in all competitions. The club is also embroiled in an injury crisis with first team players Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Michael Olise and Cheick Doucoure all currently unavailable.
Asked whether the uncertainty at Selhurst Park could create an opportunity for Everton to exploit, Dyche said: “No I don’t think so. The mentality has to be right for us, if anything is not right their end it is nothing to do with us and if it unbalances their situation that’s helpful. But, equally, can you turn it the other way and say will they be galvanised by the situation? Who knows? There is an awareness of the opposition but I’ve always kept the straightforward thinking that the game has to be about us, particularly at Goodison, whatever format, we choose to make it about us.
“You can’t do it all the time, if you are playing Man City you are probably going to give up some possession but usually at Goodison we want to take the game on and we have to have that mentality. The players are aware, the coverage in football is so vast they are all aware of the situation, so we focus on what we are doing.”
Of the three times the sides have met this season, Everton won in the league at Selhurst Park, where they also secured an FA Cup replay with a goalless draw in early January. Andre Gomes’ stunning free kick then helped Everton win the return at Goodison. Dyche does not believe the familiarity between the squads will offer either side any substantial advantage but, with Everton now in the bottom three and Palace looking nervously over their shoulders at the survival battle, he did concede the build up to this fixture was different.
Dyche said: “The noise around it changes but at the end of the day the mentality we have been trying to build is every game is an important game. I think we will be ready, we have been ready for every game this season. A couple we have stepped away from, but in most I think we have been a very competitive side and we have to continue that train of thought in all the games we play.”
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