What Sean Dyche told Everton dressing room at half-time to ensure Premier League safety

Sean Dyche insists there is still plenty of work do be done despite Everton retaining their Premier League status.

The Toffees’ 1-0 victory over AFC Bournemouth on the final day of the 2022-23 campaign ensured they avoided relegation. Everton knew heading into the season finale that victory would see Leicester City and Leeds United jettison to the Championship.

Dyche’s side went into half-time against Bournemouth with the game goalless. As a consequence, they were in the bottom three because Leicester were leading against West Ham. But Abdoulaye Doucoure’s 57th-minute thunderbolt proved enough the inspiration for Everton’s survival.

Dyche replaced Frank Lampard as Toffees manager at the end of January. The club were in the relegation zone at the time, having only narrowly avoided the drop last term. And while he was delighted that Everton have stayed up, he knows significant improvement is required going into next season.

Via the BBC, Dyche said: “Ugly days, brilliant when you win it and glorified, but it's ugly days and there's no joy in that. I was pleased with how the team worked. There's a lot of work to be done. But I'm really pleased.

"We brought a group of players together and I'm learning about the club. The fans care deeply. They know the club isn't where it wants to be but it's a team in a massive transition and we need to build on what we have achieved this season.

"I said it was fantastic in many ways and to enjoy the moment but don't forget that overall for the season it's disappointing. We need to demand more, recruit more and everything. There's so many things here. There's a lot of work that needs doing.

On his message to the players at half-time, Dyche said: "I reminded the players of a good half and that the main thing was getting bodies in the box with a purpose and meaning to score a goal. That’s been the main question mark since I got here, having the belief to score a goal. We’ve adapted, changed it, managed to get the stats a bit better, boddies in the box but there has got to be a belief in it.

“We didn't progress too much in the second half because we found a magical moment then it was nervy after that It’s difficult as a manager, you’ve done your stuff during the week with the players and when that happens in a game like this, you wait and see if they can deal with it in a game like this and they did.”