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Dwight McNeil and Ashley Young are among the players absent from the latest set of Everton training pictures.

Images from Finch Farm, captured on Wednesday but published today, show the Everton squad being put through their paces by Sean Dyche and his coaching team.

Several key figures are absent from the photos of the session, McNeil and Young perhaps of the most concern.

McNeil’s fitness is the biggest issue heading into Dyche’s pre-Aston Villa press conference on Friday and will shape the coming weeks for Everton.

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McNeil was stretchered off the pitch at Selhurst Park in the final stages of the FA Cup draw with Crystal Palace last week. It was later revealed he had suffered an ankle injury. It is expected he will not be available for this weekend’s Premier League fixture and Friday’s press conference will be the first time Dyche will be asked about the extent of the problem since the immediate aftermath of the incident.

The 24-year-old has been integral to Everton’s progress under Dyche and is a key part of the club’s first team. Any absence will be of concern and could be worsened should the loan spell of Arnaut Danjuma, his most obvious replacement, be brought to an early end with Lyon interested in signing the winger. Jack Harrison would be the only fit senior winger available should McNeil be ruled out for a substantial period of time and Danjuma depart.

Should it be necessary, Young could potentially be moved to the wing after spending much of this season at full-back. But his return date is also uncertain and, like McNeil, he was not captured in the training