Sean Dyche admits he 'doesn't know' if Alli will play for Everton this season

Sean Dyche has admitted that Dele Alli may not feature for Everton this season after the midfielder suffered yet another injury setback.

The former Tottenham star has not made a first-team appearance in 11 months - which came during his loan at Besiktas - amid a string of injury problems.

Last month, Dyche revealed that Alli would be sidelined yet again after needing groin surgery and now the Toffees boss has confirmed that any comeback is still a long way off.

Regarding Alli's return date, Dyche said: 'We'll see. There's a long way to go. We've deliberately kept him back, we agreed with him to give him time and space. Hopefully he'll be back, we just don't know.'

'We've given him the privacy he needs at this time. He's in good shape. I spoke to him recently and we had a good long conversation with him.

'Making sense of another injury is difficult but he'll come through that.'

Dyche had initially suggested that Alli had 'no timescale' on a potential return and that the 'early signs' were good.

Speaking back in January, Dyche said: 'Unfortunately he has required surgery. There was a debate on whether to or not, which took time. Now he'll be recovering from that and there's no timescale.

'The early signs are good. We are just waiting to see how it develops.'

Alli had an earlier groin operation last summer and also courageously spoke about his addiction battles off the pitch due to childhood trauma, which also delayed a comeback.

The midfielder also revealed, in a New Year Instagram post, that he'd suffered a fresh set injury setback.

Alli wrote on social media: 'As the year comes to an end, I just wanted to say thank you for the incredible support I've received over the last 12 months.

'This year has been a little different for me,