Nathan Patterson has suffered a "very unfortunate" injury and will play no further part in Everton's season, manager Sean Dyche has confirmed. 

Patterson, 22, had been struggling for game time with the Toffees since the turn of the year, but was given the second half of Everton's 6-0 English Premier League defeat to Chelsea on Monday. 

Sadly, the former Rangers starlet suffered a hamstring injury during the dying moments of that game, and will now require surgery. 

Dyche refrained from addressing Patterson's prospects for recovering in time for the Euro 2024 finals this summer.

However, it seems that Scotland head coach Steve Clarke might face the prospect of being without his top two right-backs for the tournament in Germany, with Brentford's Aaron Hickey still working his way back from his own long-term injury woes.

READ MORE: Clement breaks silence on Sterling 'we've been s***' Rangers remark

"He'll be out for the season," Dyche admitted, when asked about Patterson's availability ahead of Nottingham Forest's trip to Goodison Park on Sunday.

"He'll need surgery - very unfortunate injury. We're disappointed in that one for him, as well as us."