Nathan Patterson is set to make his long-awaited return from injury for Everton's U21 side this weekend. The full back has been out of action since suffering a hamstring problem during the Toffees 6-0 defeat to Chelsea back in April, with the severity of the injury robbing him the chance of going to Euro 2024 with Scotland.
Patterson has failed to hold down a regular place at Goodison Park after making a £11million switch from Rangers in January 2022, partly due to a succession of injuries.
But ahead of the first team's Premier League clash away to Leicester City on Saturday, Everton boss Sean Dyche - whose side sit bottom of the table having lost all four of their games so far - confirmed that the 22-year-old and one other returning player are expected to feature in the U21 fixture against Sunderland on Sunday.
He said: "Jarrad [Branthwaite] is making progress, hopefully he gets involved in the game this weekend with the under-21s. Nathan Patterson is the same as Jarrad." Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.