Former Rangers star close to Everton comeback as injury torment amid surgery nears conclusion

A former Rangers star is nearing an end to his injury woes at Premier League side Everton.

Right-back Nathan Patterson left Ibrox in 2022 for Merseyside, but he has been hit with injury problems since the spring this year. He has not played since undergoing an operation on a hamstring injury in April.

That ruled him out of action for Scotland at Euro 2024 and so far, Everton boss Sean Dyche has been unable to hand him any minutes. Now speaking ahead of a match with Leicester City, Dyche has confirmed the Rangers academy graduate is likely to feature in an U21s game alongside one of his other injured teammates.

He said: “Jarrad is making progress and will hopefully be involved in a (under-21) game this weekend. Nathan Patterson, same as Jarrad.”

Patterson will hope for minutes when fit than he has had this year at Everton. He didn’t play at all between January and the March internationals, where his performance for Scotland against Northern Ireland in a 1-0 defeat was criticised.

Asked if a lack of competitive action in those couple of months had been responsible for an error, Scotland boss Clarke said in March: “Possibly, possibly not enough games. But I thought he did well in the game.

“He did fantastic to get back in (and retrieve the ball after he had given it away before the goal). He did well and then he picked the wrong option. It happens, if you are not playing. But he is a young player who we know will be part of what we are trying to do in the future. He will learn.”