Sean Dyche didn't give the answer I expected at Everton press conference

Is Brentford a must-win game? There was always going to be a question along those lines at Finch Farm on Thursday. And Sean Dyche's answer was always going to follow the script of every answer he has given ahead of every one of the many important games he has prepared Everton for - essentially that 'every game is a big game'.

"Every moment is big moment at Everton", he said, adding: "Every game is vital to the fans, is vital to me, is vital to the players."

He is right to an extent. The cliche does hold merit. But this weekend does feel pivotal. Everton have had a tough start to the season and, and as a result, have failed to create the buffer to the bottom clubs that everyone hoped would be the reward from a relatively straightforward set of opening fixtures.

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One of the reasons that gap feels so precarious is Ipswich Town's win at Tottenham Hotspur on the final day before the international break. That was a result that was tough for Everton not just because it brought a winless team closer to the Blues in the table, but also because it was an example of what might be possible for teams that show adventure on the road, something Dyche's side was accused of failing to do in the games at Southampton and West Ham United that preceded the break.

Those results have been a catalyst for concern around Everton's plight this season - particularly with a December schedule that provides plenty of opportunity but which also has the potential to make this a tough Christmas at Goodison.

Before that run begins there is this visit of Brentford, a side Dyche has overseen three good wins over, the past two at Goodison being 1-0 victories when the pressure was on his side.

Is this as big as them? No, is the simple answer - both, and even the home game against the Bees under Frank Lampard the year before - were huge opportunities for a side already in a relegation fight. Everton are not there yet and, hopefully will not get there this season.

But this is a prelude to a tough run and there is little doubt a good return from the break would ease the pressure on everyone, including Dyche - even if that is almost entirely external at this stage, with the feeling inside the club that he continues to steer a troubled ship through what we all hope is the final stretch of choppy water.

And in fairness, having sat through Dyche repeating that every game is a big one for almost two years, I got the sense he was aware that this upcoming one is of real significance.

He suggested he is trying to get his players to think that way too: "I think we have had massive games many times and this is another one for a different reason. But we want the mentality to stay like that for us, actually. Every game should be a big game and should feel a big game... that is the mentality we are trying to grow in the group, which I think has grown."

Earlier in the press conference he spoke of his pride at the resilience his squad has shown during the difficult times of recent years. There have been moments when he has rallied this side to great effect, think Arsenal in his first game, Brighton and Hove Albion away a few months later, the Merseyside derby in April. This would be an excellent time to find that spark again.