In what is traditionally the busiest time of the season, a swerve of postpone games ascribable to COVID and injuries has meant Everton have had a welcome 17-day break. The Toffees ’ end game was a 1-1 pull back away at Chelsea and will return to action on Sunday ( fingers crossed ) at family against Brighton & Hove Albion. Games against Leicester City and Newcastle, and away at Burnley have had to be postponed, and will contribute to some fastness congestion belated on in leap but for now it has bought Rafa Benitez valuable time to get an arm-long tilt of players back to full moon seaworthiness .
Speaking at his pre-match press conference today ahead of the Seagulls sojourn, the director confirmed without naming any names that the plot would go ahead from the Everton english as he had enough players to meet the minimum quotas for a matchday police squad .

“ Do you know any family in England Covid-free ? We are getting better. obviously we ’ ve had issues with the COVID, players with problems are coming back and train. We can not give names or numbers, in terms of Covid we have less problems .
“ In terms of injuries we are bringing players back. however we have some issues but we are much better now. We have enough players and we want to play. When you can not, you can not, but when you have the possibility to play you want to play.

“ Players that were injured, fiddling by small they ’ re coming back. We don ’ t want to take a risk with some of them, but they ’ re closely there. In terms of positions now we can play, at least we can have some libra on the pitch. ”

dominic Calvert-Lewin was expected to return on Boxing Day, and was spotted in trail pictures earlier today, would he be starting ?

“ Dominic is training with the team. One thing is meet seaworthiness, which you can improve playing games. In the fitness room he is getting better, but equal fitness, we will see. possibly he scores three goals in the first gear half and we don ’ t need to worry about his match fitness .
“ The topic will be how long he can play if he starts the game, or if he comes from the bench how much shock he can be in the game. He is training well and is glad to play and to score goals. ”

The transfer window opens tomorrow, and the director was asked if Everton will be active during the period and how involve they can be, particularly with no Director of Football in target now and Benitez overseeing the unharmed transfer process .

“ We are working hard. We are trying to find some targets to improve the team. Everybody knows how unmanageable the January transportation window is. In talking with different teams, everybody is a little bit disquieted about Covid-19, no-one wants to spend excessively much money. Everyone wants players but on loan, with no obligations .
“ That is complicated but silent we are working. I am quite glad and convinced that we will do two or three things. With the revision of the club ’ randomness structure, I talk with the Board about names and they tell me issues, agents are throwing name calling all the time so we are in contact with clubs but it ’ s not precisely me, the Board and club are besides looking for the right options .
“ You sign what you can, not what you want. This window is specially complicated with the Covid, the money is not there. not everybody has a set of money to spend indeed we have to be careful when we buy, sell or lend players. ”

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With not much fiscal wiggle room, what can the fans expect from the transfer window ?

“ I said when I came here that I knew the fans, the team and the club. It ’ s precisely the same immediately. I knew what we were looking for in August, we were talking about wingers and some positions. We are working to find the right players not barely for the present but besides the future. There are some positions we have identified that we must improve .
“ We are trying to be sure he have chances to improve. What can the fans expect ? Two or three players, and players who want to be here .

Is Calvert-Lewin ’ sulfur retort like a new sign for the Blues ?

“ I can say that it ’ s a massive sign for us for the moment part of the league. When you look at the top scorers of last year, none of them are playing this year. If we bring him back and a few weeks belated we bring back Richarlison, and we have more options there with Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend .
“ We can think about the second gear part of the league as something wholly unlike with new signings and hopefully we will see the difference. ”

Andros Townsend ’ south mannequin has badly tailed off since making a hot begin, and Benitez revealed that the player is making his way back to seaworthiness after sustaining an injury .

“ We were bringing in wingers, at the originate of the season were making a lot of crosses. It ’ randomness truthful, missing Dominic — a bang-up player in the air travel — for any winger is a boastfully loss.

“ Andros is injured and pushing actually hard to be fit. He has an wound, a break dance bone in his ankle, but even when he has some pain he ’ south pushing. I was just watching him training with the fitness bus. He wants to train tomorrow and to be available .
“ That is the kind of character I like in this team, people even when they have some issues pushing and trying to be on the flip. If he ’ mho fit he will be delighted to see Dominic on the conclusion of his crosses. ”