Dwight McNeil is a “maybe” for Everton’s game with Nottingham Forest on Sunday. The midfielder has missed the last three games after a knee injury suffered earlier in the campaign flared again.

His condition will continue to be assessed amid preparations for the match with high-flying Forest. Blues boss Sean Dyche said: “We will have to wait and see, it is still a touch and go scenario.”

The review will take place against the backdrop of Iliman Ndiaye having been withdrawn in the 1-1 draw at Manchester City on Boxing Day with a calf problem, though that is believed to be minor.

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Sunday's Goodison Park match-up is set to be an interesting affair, with both sides entering the game in good form. Forest have been the Premier League’s surprise package and sit in the Champions League spots after a Boxing Day win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Everton, meanwhile, have secured consecutive draws against Arsenal, Chelsea and then City.

It is a far cry from the context of Forest’s most recent trip to Goodison - a relegation six pointer between two struggling teams that the Blues won, inspiring a chaotic reaction from Forest officials as the club took its complaints over the officiating to social media on the final whistle.

Dyche said he had been “impressed by what they are doing” as he considered his former club’s recent form - and that of striker Chris Wood, who he worked with closely at Burnley.

He said: “We have got to make sure we are delivering. We had a good point at City - a valid point - and it was similar against Chelsea and Arsenal. We had a good win against Wolves but we have got to continue that mentality and keep building on it. It will be another tough game in the Premier League for us.”

Asked whether there was a new strain of confidence in his squad after recent results and performances, Dyche said he never felt his players lacked it.

He explained: “Early in the season when we didn’t get off to a good start so many things went against us, some of our own doing and injuries and the like. I don’t think it was a real lack of confidence but of course confidence is driven and built by time and getting the right results and performances.

“I think we are in a better place than early season but I think the mentality is strong. We have had to build that mentality and sometimes that is the best way, when you build that mentality as a collective it locks it in more and now we have got to use that wisely to not only draw games but to win games and that is the next challenge.”