Sean Dyche responds to Kieran Trippier and Dominic Calvert-Lewin Everton transfer questions

Sean Dyche said strengthening Everton’s options at right-back would not be his biggest priority should the opportunity to do any late transfer business arise.

The Blues have been linked to Newcastle United and England full-back Kieran Trippier amid a crisis on the right side of the defence as they prepares to travel to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.

Dyche is a fan of Trippier, who could also offer cover at left-back, and suggested he would welcome any “good players” that the club was in a position to do a deal for.

But should any money become available in the final week of the transfer window he questioned the value of spending it in an area where he believes his selection issues are short term.

Everton could head to north London with just 14 senior players at Dyche’s disposal. His line-up his particularly depleted at the back, where Jarrad Branthwaite, Seamus Coleman and Nathan Patterson will all be unavailable through injury.

James Garner, whose versatility has led to him earning experience on the right of defence, is also fighting injury while James Tarkowski is in a battle against time and his body to be available after not training this week due to a hamstring concern.

Ashley Young, who started at right back in the opening day defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion, is suspended following his red card in that match.

Asked whether persistent problems with the right of defence would lead to a solution being searched for in the transfer market, Dyche said: “You can never guarantee with injuries but we think that after [Spurs] we will have strength coming back. Youngy will be available again, Seamus has made good progress this week so he is likely to be around it again.

“If it was about right-backs specifically it has got to be something that could build the team going forward, not just for one game. But any good players - if they are available, I am not sure we have the money available to sign all these players we keep getting linked with but we seem to keep getting linked with them.”

Asked specifically about Trippier, who appears to be available this summer and who Dyche previously worked with at Burnley, the Blues boss did not rule out interest but added: “If we had some money and we could look across the market at players, we would look at many different positions, but we wouldn’t be looking at right-back straight away because of the players we have got here.”

Financial constraints look set to be the dominant theme of the last week of the transfer window for Everton.

Dyche said more business was “unlikely” and went on to accept the club would have to carefully consider serious offers for his players should they come.

Asked about the future of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is central to Dyche’s plans for the season but is out of contract next summer, he said: “Any offer of a certain level would have to still be looked at by the club. We're in a better position because of how much we bought in player trading and how much we've lowered the wages, but it's not solved.

“So therefore there would still be a moment where the big people at the club get a phone call and go, ‘right, here's the reality, we've been offered this’. Then it's down to them. I can obviously give a football opinion, but I think we would all go, ‘you don't need to be selling anyone at the minute’.

“But that doesn't mean that that happens. The powers that be are still not in a position where we just go, ‘no, no, we're fine, we can start bankrolling the club and we're going to sign players’, as you can quite obviously tell.”