Calvert-Lewin opens up on injury anguish

Everton supporters have endured a difficult season but imagine how it has felt to be Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The man best placed to do something about the team's struggles watching on from a distance, unable to influence things as he had been doing.

Thirty-two Premier League goals inside two years put him among the top bracket of strikers, a club talisman at 24. The first major muscle injury of his career came after he had scored in Everton's first three games of the season and with the team joint-top of the table.

By the time that he returned in January, all optimism was gone.

"There was such a big emphasis on me coming back," Calvert-Lewin tells Sky Sports. "The results not being great just made me want to return and help the team but I think I set unrealistic expectations of myself and that was difficult to deal with mentally."

The striker has worked hard to become so important to Everton. "Once upon a time I was not in that position so I see it as a privilege to have that expectation on my shoulders. Nobody expects more of me than myself. I believe I am capable of making a difference.

"But I am having to get fit and sharp on the pitch in Premier League games. You underestimate how long four or five months is to have out. You come back in the middle of a season and everyone else is up to speed. I underestimated how difficult it would be."

The arrival of Frank Lampard has lifted the gloom.

"I came back into the team when momentum was going against us but there is a buzz again now with the new manager here. When things go wrong continually it can create an atmosphere that is hard to shake off and a change is needed. I think that was needed.

"But I feel much fresher now and focused on what I can control."

There is a