Sean Dyche has spoken about his future as Everton manager in his pre-match press conference to preview the FA Cup third-round tie at home to Peterborough United on Thursday. Reports have claimed that Everton’s new owners The Friedkin Group have been holding talks about Dyche’s position with Graham Potter named as a potential replacement.

Asked about whether his position should be scrutinised and his understanding of the situation, Dyche said: “To be clear, it should be. At the end of the day, if you’re a business of this size, and this club, succession plan should surely be part of their diligence.

“I’ve got no problem with that at all. I think that should be ongoing at every football club. It’s part of the business, surely? I’m sure it is in what we’d call ‘normal business life’, that is, outside of football.

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“So, I never really concern myself with that. You’ve got to win games, we haven’t won enough this season, you’ve got to make sure the team is operating the right way, you’ve got to try and please everyone, all of the time.

“That’s the job, and we haven’t done that often enough, and it comes down to me, without any shadow of a doubt.”

Dyche was also quizzed on whether he had received any contact from The Friedkin Group himself. He said: “Yes, just positive, that they know some of the work that we’ve done. They want better outcomes from winning games of course.

“I think there’s a reality to the situation, that’s all I know. They’ve been very straight with me and very up front about it.

“There’s been no indication on that (his position), just that we’ve got no reason to think other than you. I told you when I first met them, it was about winning games, we all know that’s the challenge for a manager, that doesn’t change.

“There are extenuating circumstances in some situations. I think we should win more games, I think we should have won more games by now and I think we need to win more games.

“I don’t think that’s anything I’ve ever hidden from. I know the industry I’m in, 10 years in the Premier League teaches that.”

The 53-year-old dismissed any suggestions that talks with other potential managers undermined his own position. He said: “No, like I say, whether they have or they haven’t, they certainly have not told me that. If they have, I don’t know how it works in the privacy world of it all.

“But if they have, it’s succession planning and that’s what clubs of this size [do], people sometimes forget it’s a business as well, I understand that totally, whoever it was. I think that should be part of the way that any business operates.

“Certainly, if it was my business, I’d be operating like that. Looking at: ‘What happens if? What happens if that happens? What’s the next thing?’

“We certainly have to do it from a player trading point of view. So why would it be any different with managers and staff members?”

When it was put to him that there was a human element within this, given the efforts he has put into the job over almost two years in charge, Dyche said: “We’re still putting a lot in. I’m putting a lot of effort and trying different ways, and trying to work, and trying to look at all the different parameters, on and off the pitch, different ways of working.

“That’s part of being a manager, so I’m well-versed in it. It’s very difficult and here it’s been extremely difficult, I’ve spoken openly about that.

“There’s a huge demand on me, a huge demand on the situation and it’s a constant, and that is a part of Everton life. I’ve adapted to it, I’ve taken it on, I’ve had my knocks, and I’m getting them again now, and I’ve been through them before, you know that.

“It’s how you handle it and try to always support the club. The club is always bigger than me, I’ve said that as soon as I got here. I see it that I am just a custodian. So far, I’ve handled it pretty bloody well, I think.

“So now can I go and win some games, can I take it on another level, can I change the narrative, can I reinvent what we’re trying to do to try and take it on another level. That’s the biggest challenge at the moment.”

In terms of fitness news for the visit of the League One outfit, Dyche revealed Everton had trained with just 16 players today, one of whom was Beto, who has been linked with a return to Italy, but Dominic Calvert-Lewin has an ankle problem.

Armando Broja, who started in the 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday but was forced off through injury in the first half has a chance of facing Peterborough, but Youssef Chermiti, who hasn’t featured all season, is going to be out for weeks and Dwight McNeil also won’t be available.