After their return from Aston Villa, they will now play Southampton, a premier league team, in a crucial test to see whether Sean Dyche has much longer to stay at Goodison Park.

His future is still quite dubious because of the growing dissatisfaction among the fan base caused by the increased scrutiny surrounding his team selection and substitutions.

One area that is particularly scrutinised is up front, where Dominic Calvert-Lewin has performed largely in the same way as he did the previous year: he is strong in set pieces but helpless in front of goal.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin sends message to Everton fans

The wasteful striker, who wasted two one-on-one opportunities after scoring his team’s second goal, thought that Evertonians needed to hear what he had to say in an interview with the Liverpool Echo.

Ultimately, the 27-year-old expresses empathy for their feelings, pleading with them to “stick with us.”

As usual, the travelling assistance was first-rate. I understand how they’re feeling right now because I’m feeling the same way, but I believe that if you look past it, we can draw encouragement and confidence from our recent results in the games.

Although the season hasn’t started as well as we had anticipated, I’m confident that we will make amends because the game is still young.

We’re in a lot of pain. The last two games have been really unpleasant, in my opinion, because we haven’t scored any points. As I’ve mentioned previously, at this level, mistakes and lack of focus are penalised, and these days, we play for 100, maybe even 105 minutes.

Because failing to do so carries consequences, we acknowledge accountability. Even though it aches, we won’t think about it too much because we have to go again on Tuesday.

We are creating opportunities, and as a striker, that is my responsibility. Obviously, in the previous two games, I have had opportunities to score. I acknowledge that I could have done better, as I usually do, but overall, I think there are a lot of advantages to be gained regardless of the outcome. We simply need to focus the entire game—we can’t let up and give up easy goals.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin will struggle to be the lethal striker Everton need

Calvert-Lewin’s refusal to sign a new contract hasn’t hurt his popularity with the supporters, but he won’t likely ever be the reliable goal scorer the Toffees need.

At the very least, it is what the data indicates.

The former Sheffield United player has had a good run in the Premier League during his many years as a hard-charging center-forward who challenges any centre-back.

That being said, even if Calvert-Lewin continues to be so persistently wasteful, it is difficult to continue to be supportive.

Under Carlo Ancelotti’s direction, he had his finest goal-scoring season to date in 2020–21, tallying 16 goals with a 19% conversion rate.

According to Sofascore, the percentage has now dropped to 15%, 6%, and 10% during the previous few complete seasons.

Although Calvert-Lewin is a wonderful centre striker and a great target, he has already shown that he cannot be counted on to regularly score 15 goals in a Premier League season.