Coleman rouses Everton for first victory and Ebosele off the mark for Watford

Festy Ebosele marked his first Championship start for Watford with a goal in their 2-1 win against Sunderland.

Sun, 29 Sep, 2024 - 14:34

John Fallon

Séamus Coleman played a captain’s role in Everton's first win of the season on Saturday despite being sidelined with injury.

One point from their opening five matches left the Toffees languishing early and the boos rang out around Goodison Park when they trailed to Crystal Palace at the break.

Awaiting the players in the dressing-room was Coleman, who was invited to say his piece by Sean Dyche after the manager had delivered his talk.

Fellow veteran Ashley Young was also absent through injury but offered an insight about the Ireland captain’s contribution after Dwight McNeil’s brace sealed a 2-1 comeback victory.

Everton's McNeil credits pre-season Coleman chat for goalscoring form

“Massive 3pts,” he wrote on social media. “It has been coming, we’ve been unlucky but our togetherness is too strong to not change that luck at some point. Maybe it was the Skip’s speech at half time, I think the whole stadium heard him.”

Coleman became Everton’s record Premier League appearance holder last January when he surpassed the 355 mark.

He started a League Cup and Premier League game before hobbling off in Ireland’s Nations League opener against England following a challenge by Harry Maguire.

Dyche admitted 10 days ago that the injury was worse than initially feared, throwing into doubt his availability for the upcoming internationals away to Finland and Greece. Heimir Hallgrimsson names his squad on Thursday.

Another player who picked up a knock during the September window, Will Smallbone, is also struggling to be fit.

He hasn’t figured for Southampton since and Russell Martin admits it could be after the October international before he returns.

Festy Ebosele pushed his case for promotion by marking first Championship start for Watford by scoring in the 2-1 win over high-flying Sunderland. He could be a direct replacement for Coleman as cover on the right side.

Midfielder Josh Cullen has returned to the Burnley line-up, something John Egan is getting closer to by appearing on the bench since recently signing as a free agent.

In Scotland, Adam Idah was on target again for Celtic in their 6-0 romp over managerless St Johnstone. Hallgrimsson will have to decide whether to pair Idah with fit-again Evan Ferguson for the trip to Helsinki on Thursday week, after the Brighton striker stepped up his return to match sharpness with another substitute’s cameo in Brighton’s 4-2 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.

Troy Parrott might have something to say about that. He faces Utrecht today on the back of a scoring streak for second-placed AZ Alkmaar. The Irish striker bagged four against Robin van Persie’s Heerenveen before his penalty secured a 3-2 Europa League win over IF Elfsborg on Wednesday.