Everton youngster on standby as 17-year-old poised to be in squad against Southampton

Everton have injury issues ahead of their Premier League fixture against Southampton.

Harrison Armstrong is again expected to be on the Everton bench against Southampton.

The Toffees’ ongoing injury issues means that the 17-year-old is likely to be required for Premier League duty at St Mary’s on Saturday. Sean Dyche’s side make the trip to the south coast aiming to stretch their unbeaten run to six games. But the Everton boss will be depleted of midfield options, with James Garner (back) and Tim Iroegbunam (foot) sidelined for a sustained period.

Dyche also admitted at his pre-match press conference that Abdoulaye Doucoure has had a knock in the build-up to the Southampton encounter. Regardless of whether Doucoure is available, Armstrong is set to be involved. The highly-rated youngster in all bar one Premier League games this season and came on for his Premier League debut in a 4-0 loss at Tottenham. He was then handed his full Everton bow in a defeat by Southampton on penalties in the Carabao Cup.

The Blues’ fitness problems have limited Armstrong’s game-time for the under-21s. But earlier this week, he displayed his prowess by scoring for Paul Tait’s side in a 2-1 loss to League Two outfit Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy.

Armando Broja and Youssef Chermiti (both foot) are still not ready to feature while there’s a chance that Dwight McNeil could be missing at Southampton. The forward was forced off in the closing stages of Everton’s 1-1 draw against Fulham last week and had not trained prior to Dyche’s pre-match press conference on Thursday. Should McNeil be unable to feature then Dyche could promote Roman Dixon back to the first-team squad.

The right-back, 19, spent the entire pre-season period with Dyche’s set-up and he was handed a full debut at Tottenham when Ashley Young, Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson were all unavailable. Dixon also played for the under-21s against Accrington. Dyche could also consider naming two goalkeepers on his bench in Joao Virginia and Asmir Begovic.