The Toffees boss told the Liverpool Echo on 30 July amid mounting injuries for his squad that he is targeting strength in depth ahead of his next game at Preston North End at the weekend.

Dyche’s men were beaten 3-0 by the Sky Blues, including a goal by former striker Ellis Simms, but was missing a host of key players, highlighting the need for more bodies through the door.

He said: “We can start filling out the squad again, which is really important. This is Everton Football Club. We need that strength in depth that we are attempting to build in the best way we can with the finances available.”

Dyche was without a full back four for the Coventry loss with centre-backs James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite joining full-backs Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson on the sidelines.

New signing Jake O’Brien has arrived to address the lack of depth in in the middle but was not yet available, although there is little in terms of back-up for Mykolenko on the left.

Jesper Lindstrom also didn’t feature and young striker Youssef Chermiti, who has impressed so far this summer, has picked up a new problem on his foot.