Everton players and fans will be fired up by points penalty, asserts Sean Dyche.

Sean Dyche is confident Everton’s season will not be derailed by their 10-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules but has warned his players that they cannot rely on the club’s appeal to rescue them from another relegation battle.

The Everton manager said he was shocked and aggrieved by an independent commission’s decision to impose the biggest sporting sanction in Premier League history for a £19.5m overspend in 2021-22. Dyche was ill while on holiday in Dubai when informed of the punishment by Everton’s director of football, Kevin Thelwell. He described the deduction as both disproportionate and unjust.

Dyche addressed the first-team squad at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground on Friday morning, once they had all returned from international duty. Players reacted to last Friday’s news by sharing defiant messages on their WhatsApp group. After a run of six wins in nine games in all competitions, that had lifted Everton to 14th in the table prior to being plunged back to 19th, their resolve to maintain momentum and haul the club out of danger was relayed to the manager at Friday’s meeting.

“The feeling was very positive in the sense of building on the mentality that’s been there lately,” said Dyche. “We all spoke about that, saying this hasn’t changed it and it’s building regardless of this current situation. The players are clear-minded. They have their WhatsApp group and when the news broke they put it straight on there: ‘Right lads, just another challenge, this is how we take it on’. The group is taking ownership and that’s a powerful thing.

“I got from them the sense that: ‘What we’re building, we don’t let anything disrupt that and we don’t let anything get in the way’. You can’t guarantee it’s made a difference [to players’ resolve] yet because we haven’t played any games. All I know is that the players know what we’re doing. They’ve referenced that to me probably for the last six weeks.”

Everton’s appeal against the 10-point deduction will be heard by a different three-person panel before the end of the season. Dyche, however, wants his team to forget about the appeal and accept the reality of being joint-bottom of the Premier League on four points. That outlook, he believes.