Sean Dyche has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Everton's clash with Manchester City at Goodison Park on Sunday (2pm BST kick-off).
The Blues manager confirmed captain Seamus Coleman has undergone surgery on a knee injury sustained against Leicester City on 1 May, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina have both trained well.
Asked in his pre-match press conference whether showing patience with both Calvert-Lewin and Mina is now paying dividends, Dyche said: "Patience, bearing in mind it's not patience in terms of holding them back for the sake of it, it's been patience in the sense of the risk-versus-reward scenarios that come with football.
"It's difficult sometimes. You're very tempted sometimes as a manager to push players back in too early but, in my experience, it doesn't very often pay you back. So we were trying to get players - more so with Dom because of his recent history - to get them to a point when they're as close to match fit as they possibly can be before you drop him back into full training. Whereas, often, you'd use full training to get the final bit of fitness.
"I think because of Dom's history, I thought it needed solving - properly solving. We were unfortunate the first time around because we were just at the cusp of being fully fit and he nicked his hamstring again, then you have to be extra careful. That was the challenge but we still used the same process.
"I think we've seen from his performances that he does look very fit and strong, so that's going to be important over the coming games, of course. It's a real risk-versus-reward scenario, especially with muscle injuries, which I think is always a trickier scenario.
"Yerry has been fit since we got here. It's just [been a case of] giving him proper fitness. I thought he did well the other night fitness-wise. It's not easy at the minute because the games programme is very skinny. We've managed to a couple of games in between since I've been here but not many. He did well with that side of things and then give him a bit of down time to recover."
There was also positive news in the form of Andros Townsend - who played 45 minutes for the Under-21s last weekend - completing his first group training session since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in March last year.
"He's just started with us again," Dyche said about Townsend. "He's early on in the process of getting truly fit but he's started with us again and it's great for him because it's been a long haul.
"I spoke to him about his frustrations with it all and it can get hard when you're a player but he's back on the grass and enjoying it again - and we want that to continue."
Pep Guardiola's City side head to Goodison chasing a third consecutive Premier League title, with a Champions League semi-final second leg with Real Madrid and FA Cup final against local rivals Manchester United also on the horizon.
Everton, meanwhile, head back to home soil looking to follow up a superb 5-1 away victory over Brighton & Hove Albion last time out.
On skipper Coleman, Dyche added: "He did have an operation. It was straightforward in the view of the medical side of things. Apparently it's gone really well, when they got in there [it was] as they expected so hopefully it'll be a straightforward recovery. All being well he should be fit for next season.
"I'll be speaking to him ongoing. I have with all the players who have needed a chat about things. He's well in the loop of where he sits at this football club."
