Nathan Patterson hoping for increased prominence heading into the World Cup | OneFootball

Nathan Patterson is hoping to earn more minutes in the final stretches of the campaign with Everton heading into the World Cup with Scotland this summer.

Patterson has played only 239 minutes of Premier League football this season despite the Toffees’ issues at right-back. A hernia issue kept Patterson out of contention between October and November and he was rewarded with minutes with Everton missing several players during the festive period.

The Scottish international impressed in the wins over Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa both away from home while also featuring against Leeds United and Sunderland.

However, he has been left on the bench ever since with David Moyes favouring both centre-back Jake O’Brien and midfielder James Garner ahead of Patterson at right-back.

He played in both of Scotland’s friendlies recently and despite the lack of minutes at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Patterson believes he’s assured of a place in Scotland’s World Cup squad.

“We just kind of speak and he [international manager, Steve Clarke] says I need to try and get as many games as I can and all that. But I can only do what I can do, train well, and when I get the opportunities, do well. And I’ve done that this season,” he told The Daily Record.

“I can only focus on myself. I can’t worry just now. I’ve got to go back to club level and hopefully I can play as many games as I possibly can. Of course, it’s nice to get back on the pitch again, get some minutes under my belt, and I felt really good.”

Patterson played 28 minutes in his side’s 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Speaking about making an appearance in front of familiar faces, Patterson added, “It was a nice experience. It was good to hear some of our fans here as well, It was nice to have a home feel.

“The boys were asking me during the week what it’s like, and everyone was really surprised and taken aback by how good the facilities were, and yeah, that’s what we get every week, so it’s nice for everyone else to see it.

“It was positive. It’s good to get on the pitch and get two more caps, reaching, I think it was 25, so I’m delighted with that. It was obviously nice to get on. You want to play as many minutes as you can, and I got the nod and I was delighted with how I done myself.”

//

Reader Comments (1)

Moyes clearly doesn't trust Patterson's defending (can't blame him), and Patto has caught a number of bad breaks regarding playing time.

If we were stuck in mid-table with nothing to play for, he might have been able to count on lots of late-season minutes, both to shape him up for the World Cup and to look shiny in the shop window for summer sale.

But we've been too good, and it would appear that our last 7 games will be crucial to get us into Europe, which means Moyes will want to roll out his best 11 for every game. And that ain't Patterson. So I'm guessing his time has already expired.

Nice kid with some talent going forward. Wishing him the best for the WC and his new club next season.