Everton are back in action tonight after another tough week. They face Peterborough United in the third round of the FA Cup at Goodison Park.

The 1-0 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday triggered intense speculation over the future of manager Sean Dyche, who had a number of tough questions to answer at his press conference on Tuesday. Despite the rumours, he remains in place and the focus will shift to the football temporarily at least.

Everton will be big favourites to triumph against League One opposition, although Dyche did confirm the squad was dealing with a number of injuries in the build-up. Up front in particular, Beto could be the only senior available centre-forward.

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With that in mind, our writers have made their team selections for the game.

Chris Beesley

Go big or go home. Everton – and their loyal but long-suffering supporters who have incredibly sold out their FA Cup third-round tie against League One Peterborough United on a Thursday night in January – are desperate for a morale-boosting win and some goals, so Sean Dyche needs to go as strong as possible with his line-up.

I’m not sure who exactly those 16 fit players were who he said were training on Tuesday ahead of his pre-match press conference, but the Blues need to be bold here to make sure they make it through to the fourth round and avoid a potential giant-killing and I’d try to play are more attack-minded line-up than usual.

That would involve deploying Iliman Ndiaye as a more genuine number 10, operating as a supportive foil to his striker, rather than just having Abdoulaye Doucoure as a more advanced ‘number six.’

Moving the Senegal international into a more central role would also enable both Jesper Lindstrom and Jack Harrison to get on the pitch and each having a chance to break their scoring ducks this season.

Also, as well as Joao Virginia did in last season’s FA Cup ties, I deplore the idea of cup keepers so there’s no need for Jordan Pickford to be given a rest.

My team (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Mangala, Doucoure; Lindstrom, Ndiaye, Harrison; Broja.

Joe Thomas

This feels a good time to experiment, even if there isn’t a huge squad to experiment with. Of course, any lessons from tonight have to be qualified by the opponent, as much respect as Peterborough are due, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help Everton find a breakthrough in one one of the areas in which they are struggling.

I’d start at full-back. Vitalii Mykolenko has struggled for a while and although there is no obvious, outright senior left-back to challenge him, I like the idea of giving him a rest and playing Ashley Young there, a move that also allows me to give Nathan Patterson a much-needed start. Patterson struggled in the second half at Bournemouth but that was a tough game to come into at the break and he’s not had many minutes over recent months. Give him a chance tonight.

This is a game in which we can all take another look at Jake O’Brien, and I would play him with Michael Keane to give the first-choice pairing a break. Joao Virginia also starts for me - I thought he did well as the FA Cup goalkeeper last season and giving squad players minutes could be useful ahead of the slog to the end of the season.

In the middle I would give Harrison Armstrong a start. If Sean Dyche believes he has the potential to change a Premier League game then League One opposition should provide an intriguing test for him and this would be a good opportunity to gauge where his development is at. Abdoulaye Doucoure and Oriel Mangala would provide a shield behind him and free him up to burst forward.

At the top, it feels like some of Everton’s attacking players just need some luck - maybe tonight is the game something clicks into gear. I’d have Jesper Lindstrom on the right, Jack Harrison on his favoured left foot and Beto in the middle in the hope at least one can stake a claim as this side’s goalscoring saviour.

My team (4-5-1): Virginia, Patterson, O'Brien, Keane, Young; Lindstrom, Mangala, Armstrong, Doucoure, Harrison; Beto.