Sean Dyche believes Harrison Armstrong has the potential to break through at Everton – but said club captain Seamus Coleman made sure he didn’t get complacent

Harrison Armstrong is learning some of his lessons the hard way as he continues to impress Everton – with Seamus Coleman making sure he doesn’t get ahead of himself. The teenager has had a fantastic rise to the first team lineup and according to Sean Dyche has an “edge” that gives him a chance to really break through to the senior side from the academy.

But Dyche said club captain Coleman made sure he didn’t get ahead of himself as he provided behind-the-scenes insight before the veteran suffered the hamstring injury that ruled him out of Ireland duty during the international break.

Dyche said: “He got a bit of Seamus before his injury which made me laugh – he was trying to be a bit chipper and Seamus gave him the Everton look and the Everton words. I just burst out laughing – I said ‘Harrison, there goes you son’, it’s coaching itself. He’s learning the respect of football and that’s important and I make sure they understand that, and that’s from Seamus going all the way through the group… He got its taste straight from the horse’s mouth and I thought it was very funny.”

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Dyche would not reveal the finer details of what happened but threw it in among a round of genuine praise for Armstrong, the 18-year-old who made his first team debut at Tottenham Hotspur in August and has since been called up to England U-18.

That debut followed a pre-season in which the box-to-box midfielder took advantage of the injuries in front of him to make an impact when he was called up to first-team training.

Dyche opened up about Armstrong’s progress after praising the success of teammate Dwight McNeil, who now has 215 Premier League appearances since Dyche introduced him to the first team at Burnley aged just 18. Asked if there was anyone in the Everton academy who could make a similar breakthrough, Dyche said it was tough and that “with all due respect to Burnley, there is a bigger demand here”.

But he went on to say: “I think Harrison has made up his mind. He’s still young, he trains with us practically all the time – his game schedule is still with the Under-21s sometimes – but I like what I see with him and I think he’s got a head start. He gets what Everton is about, even from his little taste of it and being around it. He’s the one at the moment who’s come out of the pack.”

Dyche also highlighted the progress of teenage right-back Roman Dixon, who also made his Spurs senior debut. The Blues boss said the move came early for Dixon due to injuries to first-team players, but added the defender had “shown little flashes and signs”. Both players could be provided opportunities to continue their development on loans in January.

On his comments about Armstrong, he said: “Harrison has shown really strong signs of pushing every day, working in training and showing what he’s all about. Getting his shoulders back and showing some freedom in and among the first team players.”

Dyche went on to explain that the injuries felt in a “stretched” first-team squad had provided valuable opportunities for younger players this season. He said: “Because we’ve had so many injuries and the squad has been stretched some of the young players have got a great feel for it, they haven’t always been on the pitch but they’ve been around it, they’ve traveled with us, taken dealing with the demands of me and my staff, been in team meetings. It’s a big learning curve. These guys are getting a lot of information and that can only be good for them.”