Nathan Patterson returns to familiar Rangers exit story as he gets honest over Everton exile

The 22-year-old was criticised for his performance for Scotland during the defeat to Northern Ireland.

Honest Nathan Patterson has admitted he is going through the most difficult period of his career after being placed on the fringes at Everton.

But it's not unfamiliar territory for the Scotland international having had to battle his way into the first-team picture at Goodison Park almost instantly after he arriving in the English Premier League from Rangers. The 22-year-old was the Light Blues record sale at the time when he joined Everton for £11million plus add ons in January 2022 under then-boss Rafa Benitez.

The Spaniard was almost instantly shown the door after Patterson's arrival from Ibrox - leaving the right-back to fight for game time under Frank Lampard. After a series of injuries and reports he could be shipped out on loan, the Scot appeared to be finally showing his best form under Sean Dyche this season having managed 25 appearances until the clash with Fulham on January 30.

However, that appears to have been a turning point for Patterson's Everton career. He played just nine minutes off the bench at Crave Cottage and has not featured since.

Seamus Coleman has regained his place as first-choice at right-back. Ashley Young and natural centre-back Ben Godfrey have acted as cover for Coleman in recent weeks while Patterson sits on the bench.

He has remained in Steve Clarke's plans heading into Euro 2024 despite struggling for minutes - but made a costly error to gift Northern Ireland a goal in the 1-0 friendly defeat at Hampden. Clarke insists he will stand by the defender going into the tournament - but Patterson has admitted he is going through a tough spell.

Asked by Viaplay if this was the most difficult period of his career, he said: "Yes, you could say so. Obviously I'm not playing as much as I would like to play but sometimes that's just football and I'm not the type of person that will just give up.

"I'll keep training hard and working hard and try and make sure I give myself the best opportunity to get game time. "The last Euros was my first camp so it was a new experience for me. I was just really looking forward to take everything in and I've done that.

"I feel as if I've matured as a player and as a person as well so this time I'm looking forward to it again. Hopefully I can play more games and hopefully we can make it through the group and make it a better experience than last time."