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Liverpool Echo

Sean Dyche gives blunt response to Ashley Young and Jack Harrison Everton selection question

The Blues boss ended a 17 game starting streak in the league for Jack Harrison, instead opting to start Ashley Young on the right wing. He said he made the decision due to a search for 'freshness'

Jack Harrison of Everton and Chris Richards of Crystal Palace battle for possession during the Premier League match at Goodison Park on February 19, 2024. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Jack Harrison of Everton and Chris Richards of Crystal Palace battle for possession during the Premier League match at Goodison Park on February 19, 2024. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)(Image: Getty Images)

Sean Dyche said he left Jack Harrison out of the starting line-up on Monday as part of efforts to provide “freshness”.

The Blues boss left Harrison on the bench against Crystal Palace, dropping him from the starting line-up for the first time since October.


It was a move that sparked surprise among sections of the fanbase and Everton’s creative struggle on Monday night led to further scrutiny of the decision.


Dyche ultimately turned to the 27-year-old as he sought a way to change the trajectory of a game Everton could ill-afford to lose but so nearly did before Amadou Onana’s late equaliser.

READ MORE: Everton have growing concern as club awaits appeal verdict from points deduction that forced relegation fight

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READ MORE: Sean Dyche rejects claim Everton missed opportunity against Crystal Palace and explains Goodison Park 'expectation'

After recovering from a hip injury that ruined his summer and pre-season, Harrison made his first start for Everton in 3-0 win over Bournemouth in October, scoring as the Blues recorded a first home league win of the campaign. The Leeds United loanee has been an ever-present since, starting every league match and completing all but three in that 17 game sequence.

Not all of those performances have been out wide, with Harrison often deployed behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin as Dyche sought a solution to the absence of Abdoulaye Doucoure for most of the past two months. In that hunt, Harrison emerged as the most effective option though Everton are yet to win in the league since the victory at Burnley on December 16 - the game Doucoure picked up the first of his recent hamstring injuries.

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With Doucoure returning to fitness - and the starting line-up - against Palace, it was Harrison who was the surprise omission as Young started on the right. Explaining the decision to start Harrison on the bench, Dyche said after the game: "Just [for] a bit of freshness and difference." It was unclear whether he meant to freshen the starting line-up, or to provide an opportunity to bring 'freshness' on from the bench.

Dyche added: "He [Harrison] came on and delivered. You’ve got Ama [Onana] coming back to full fitness. Seamus [Coleman] was missing through illness. He was desperate to come back and I said: ‘Seamus, you need to get well’. Douc will get fitter of course. He had a chance and got in the right areas once again."

Dyche rejected the suggestion the draw against a Palace side in poor form, with its best four players unavailable and with assistant managers leading from the dugout represented a missed opportunity. But he acknowledged Everton started poorly, suggesting the team had struggled to deal with the expectation of being the favourite going into the fixture.

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