Everton manager Sean Dyche has opened up about how he is coping with losing several key players this season.
The former Burnley coach has improved the Toffees' fortunes since taking over from Frank Lampard midseason, but a lack of player availability means they are still relegation candidates.
Dyche knows that they must correct a run that has seen them go five games without a win amid the absence of key players like Abdoulaye Doucoure, Seamus Coleman, and Amadou Onana.
"We've been having to adapt, and it's the risk-reward scenario," Dyche told the club's matchday programme.
"The hardest decisions on that come, for example, going to Manchester United....do we take it on? Or do we become subservient? How do you find balance?
"That's a challenge when you're missing very important players but you want other players to grow and mature into what we're doing. They're delicate decisions.
"It's fair to say that the format we have when everyone was fit was quite strong, then you pick up a couple of injuries and suspensions and have to adapt it while keeping it strong.
"The biggest balance of all is defend-attack and attack-defend, both boxes will always be the key, we can all debate the bit in the middle in terms of the style and format but both boxes are important. You have to be a threat in one and defend the other really well."