Nathan Patterson showed Sean Dyche why he deserves an Everton recall following his performance for Scotland against the Netherlands on Friday (22 March).

The 22-year-old started at right-wing back and played 73 minutes for his country as they lost to a 4-0 defeat in Amsterdam.

But the defender put up a decent display during his time on the pitch, with Steve Clarke’s side conceding twice after he was replaced by Celtic’s Anthony Ralston.

Patterson earned a SofaScore rating of 6.8 for his performance – the joint-highest of the Scotland defenders – as he created an option moving forward and executed his defensive duties well.

He made three clearances, one tackle, blocked one shot and won 50 per cent of his ground duels as he dealt with the threats provided by the crafty Memphis Depay.

The Scotsman was also extremely clean in possession throughout the game, with an 85 per cent pass accuracy with his 50 touches of the ball.

He also made two vital passes and completed one dribble as he sought to move forward, but his team lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

It was by no means a performance that lit up the Dutch city, but the defence fared well against a top international squad in their home stadium.

 

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Nathan Patterson could replace Ben Godfrey at Everton

Patterson hasn’t played a minute of football for Everton since 30 January against Fulham, having warmed the bench for the past six meetings.

During that time, Ben Godfrey has been afforded the opportunity to impress at right-back and he’s often looked like a centre-back playing out of position which, of course, he is.

Given that the Toffees have now gone 11 Premier League matches without a victory, it’s clearly time for Dyche to make some changes to his lineup, with Godfrey potentially being one of the first players to pull out.

The 26-year-old gave away a penalty in the first half of the 2-0 defeat against Manchester United on 9 March when he clumsily pulled down Alejandro Garnacho as he made his way into the box.

The Englishman proved in that game that he can’t be relied upon to execute a job on the right-hand side of the defence and a change is necessary.

Patterson featured in all but one of the games when the Blues won seven out of 10 matches earlier in this campaign, suggesting that they are a better team when he’s more involved.

It’s time for Dyche to mix things up and give him another chance after the international break.

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