Everton's new all-time record appearance holder, Seamus Coleman, has admitted that he is "proud" to have broken the club record.
Coleman, who has been at the club since 2009, broke former Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard's previous record of 354 in the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.
Coleman, an ever-present member of the Everton dressing room, suffered a serious injury at the back end of the last Premier League season and also missed a good chunk of this year's campaign.
There had been fears that Coleman's time at Everton was coming to an end, but that wasn't the case, and because of this, he has now broken the appearance record at the club.
The Killybegs man was asked by a Sky Sports reporter after the game what the achievement meant to him. The 35-year-old admitted he was "proud," but also decided to concentrate solely on the result from the game and the weeks to come for the club.
"I've been here for a long time now, coming up on 15 years. I had a couple of serious injuries, so getting it has been good," he said.
"I didn't really enjoy it before the game, when you're trying to focus on the game and stuff. It's something I'm proud of. As long as the team is picking up results, that's the main thing for me.
"I'm very proud to be playing for this football club. It's a special football club, and we should never forget how big of a football club it is in this country."
"I'm very proud to play for this football club" 💙
Séamus Coleman after reaching 355 Premier League appearances 👏 pic.twitter.com/JKKzfFLy7e— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 14, 2024
After the game, former Ireland captain and assistant coach Roy Keane also paid homage to the Donegal man for his work ethic and desire to keep working at the highest level.
Keane also claimed that he and Coleman had a few arguments in the Ireland camp in years gone by, and he also claimed that Coleman was someone who wasn't afraid to give both barrels back to him. This was something that impressed Keane when they worked together
"I had a few rows with Seamus; I know you'll find that hard to believe in the Irish dressing room," Keane said. "But what I like about players is that if I have a go at them and tell them they should be doing something, Seamus had a go back at me once; he obviously regretted it, but I like that.
"I know the way people talk about characters, and he's a great lad and so on, but that doesn't mean to say he's not a winner and he's not up for the challenge. You don't play at that level with the injuries he's had unless you're a fighter."
Everton's next Premier League game will be against Crystal Palace on January 17. However, before that, Dyche's team will return to action on Wednesday with an FA Cup third-round replay against Crystal Palace.
