International break could be chance for Everton to shape season outcome

After a stiring 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Saturday night, Everton now have an international break to reflect on their situation and be ready for the final season run-in.

At the weekend, the Toffees’ showed what seems to be their new found resiliance and ability to recover from a losing position as they twice equalised at Stamford Bridge.

Everton have made real and significant progress under Sean Dyche and under his guidance have secured eleven points since he took charge at the end of January.

That’s more than any other team caught up in the relegation struggle, which now includes the nine sides from Crystal Palace on down to bottom club Southampton.

It’s a good sign and if that kind of form carried on for the rest of the campaign, the Blues’ would be well and truly safe before they take on Bournemouth on the final day.

But, that’s far from certain of course and we have all seen a number of temporary revivals in the past under a new manager, which have then quickly gone wrong again.

While Dyche’s impact has been just what was hoped for when the former Burnley boss succeeded Frank Lampard, there is still a long way to go.

Now though comes a break until Monday the 3rd April when the Toffees’ take on a Tottenham Hotpsur team in apparent crisis, at Goodison Park.

There are perhaps two ways to look at this relatively long spell without any matches. In one sense it is a negative because Everton have generated decent momentum recently.

The Blues’ are unbeaten in three games and have gained five points from those fixtures. It’s not exactly earth-shattering stuff, but considering how poor this team has been this season, it represents solid progress.

So, any stoppage in Premier League fixtures could be seen as a negative, breaking up that hard-won momentum.

However, in another sense this break could prove of pivitol importance in determining the outcome of the campaign.

This time off can be an opportunity to continue all the hard work on the training ground which has so far proved to be having a big impact on the team’s performances.

This has especially this has been seen in areas like overall fitness and the work ethic of the players as Chelsea showed.

Another plus from this break is that it will give Dyche more time to get Dominic Calvert-Lewin fully fit and healthy at last, something he has been working on behind the scenes.

If, by some miracle the manager can use this time to get his almost permanently lame centre-forward back to a point where he is able to contribute something again on the pitch, it might prove critical to the outcome of the campaign.