Jarrad Branthwaite: Patience has paid off for me at Everton

The Toffees' surprise success story this season began the campaign on the bench for the first two matches and was probably considered fourth-choice centre-back as the least experienced of the quartet.

However, when Dyche's long-time favourite Michael Keane was dropped following the 4-0 hammering at Aston Villa it was the 21-year-old who got the nod rather than Ben Godfrey and he has never looked back.

Branthwaite had made just 10 Premier League appearances in three previous campaigns but last season's loan spell at PSV Eindhoven proved pivotal and since coming into the team in August he has played every minute in the top flight.

"Last season was massive for me, going out and developing, and I felt I had the belief coming back into the training ground that I was good enough to play," he said.

"It was about staying patient and I think I did that at the start of the season when I didn't play but the manager has given me a chance which I'm grateful for and I hope I'm repaying him with the performances."

A measure of Branthwaite's performances is that his partnership with James Tarkowski, 10 years his senior and a veteran of 248 top-flight games, already looks well established and was pivotal in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea which lifted Everton four points clear of the bottom three even with a 10-point deduction for financial breaches.

England manager Gareth Southgate was at Goodison Park to see the Tarkowski-Branthwaite axis contribute to a third successive clean sheet.

"It's something every young kid dreams of to play for the senior England team," added Branthwaite.

"I think if you see the players who are in the squad they are all top-class players but there are some young players in there as well and it shows the opportunity is there.

"And even though the manager was here it is just about putting in performances for the team. I've got to keep progressing, keep learning, keep playing week in, week out and see where that takes me."

In terms of the team's ambitions - they would be four points behind sixth-placed Manchester United without the deduction - Branthwaite said they could not afford to get carried away despite five wins and just one defeat in the last seven league matches.

"You can see the quality we have got, we have the team mentality, and you've seen that the last few weeks with the performances we've put in," he said.

"It's about taking it game-by-game and see where that takes us as you can't predict anything so it's just about keeping the momentum going and taking it into the next game."

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