Sean Dyche has welcomed the short turnaround between matches as his Everton side look to bounce back with a Premier League clash at Fulham on Tuesday night (7.45pm GMT kick-off).

The Toffees played out a competitive contest with the Hatters in Saturday’s FA Cup meeting at Goodison Park and did well to battle back from going a goal down in the first half through an unfortunate Vitalii Mykolenko own goal to draw level through Jack Harrison shortly after the break. 

Dyche’s men upped the ante in the second half and looked the more likely side to go and win the tie, only for a stoppage-time Cauley Woodrow effort from a goalmouth scramble to condemn the Blues to a 2-1 defeat.  

The players have to dust themselves down quickly when they travel to the capital for Tuesday's contest at Craven Cottage, and Dyche insists it's a chance for his squad to get back to winning ways.

“It’s good in the sense that you are back on it, the mindset changes quickly,” explained Dyche on the quick turnaround in matches. “We had a roll call Sunday, then it’s a case of moving forward and getting the team prepped again. We want the team to be ready and raring to go - they know the fixture list. The challenge is when you have got so many injuries, that obviously challenges it with recovery time, fitness and availability.

“But I believe in all these players, regardless of injuries.”

Saturday’s defeat was Everton’s first in 2024, ending a run of three solid results against Crystal Palace over two FA Cup meetings plus the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa in the Premier League. 

Despite the obvious disappointment of exiting the Cup on Saturday, Dyche is confident his team won’t dwell on the setback and believes a return to league action will only incentivise the group further.

“It’s a different ball game I think,” said Dyche comparing Cup and league action. “The Cup is a different mentality - I said it in the last round. You feel it in the crowd as well, there is a different feel to the cups. 

“It’s nobody’s fault, it is just the way it is, the players feel different, it’s not the Premier League. There is a different buzz and feel about it. 

“Obviously, in the latter stages, it grows in terms of intensity but there is a different feeling to it. So I think the players will be naturally responding differently and I want them to on Tuesday night.”

This will already be the third meeting between Everton and Fulham this season, with each of the previous two coming at Goodison Park and ending in narrow defeats for the Blues. The first, on the opening day of the campaign, saw Everton lose 1-0 despite a dominant display in which Dyche’s men registered 19 shots while Fulham managed to convert from just one of their two on target. 

December’s Carabao Cup quarter-final meeting followed in a similar vein, with the Toffees enjoying the best of the goalmouth action but eventually going on to draw 1-1 and lose via a penalty shootout. 

“They (Fulham) had a slow start this season because I thought we were excellent against them,” said Dyche reflecting on the the two previous meetings. “But they got a result. I thought we were also excellent against them in the (Carabao) cup, and they got a result again, which is not ideal, obviously.”

The Blues will look now for some deserved revenge at Craven Cottage. Dyche acknowledged that is not going to be an easy target to achieve given the London outfit have produced their best form in front of their own fans this season - each of their past six Premier League wins since beating Everton have come at home.

Away from, though, has been one of the team’s biggest improvements under Dyche, with the Club’s seven wins on the road across all competition this season being the most since they achieved 12 under Carlo Ancelotti in 2020/21. 

“I think Fulham have grown into the season and found a bit more balance to how they play and how the manager wants them to play,” added Dyche. 

“They generally have a good home record, and it’s never easy going away in the Premier League, anyway. But our away record is strong, so we want to go down there and whatever team we can put together, we want a team that can win the game.”