Everton manager Sean Dyche has warned there are more challenges to come despite their season finishing on a positive at Goodison Park.

A club record-equalling fifth consecutive home win without conceding was secured by Abdoulaye Doucoure’s solitary goal in the 1-0 victory over Sheffield United.

However, with 777 Partners’ proposed long-running takeover of the club seemingly on the brink of collapse, and a number of players out of contract or entering their final 12 months, it promises to be anything other than a straightforward summer despite the relative safety of their 15th-placed league position.

“The bar for next season is making sure we safeguard this club in the Premier League. It hasn’t really changed,” said Dyche, whose side also suffered an eight-point deduction for financial breaches.

“There will be more challenges coming. I don’t just mean financial, I mean balancing out the club, balancing out the playing side of things, balancing out the wage structure.

“It will not be fixed overnight. It is going to be a building process and it takes time. I think there is growth from when I got in to where it is now.

“There has been development in the side and the players and the mentality for sure. But there is a long way to go to get it back to where Everton think they are.

“The perception is often bigger than the truth of the story, so I’m trying to find the gap between the two and bring it together so fans go ‘okay, we kind of get where we are at’.”

Blades boss Chris Wilder insists his club are not “broken” despite conceding 101 goals and earning just 16 points with one match to play.

“Whether it is belief, personality or individual qualities that makes the difference, it is possibly all three categories,” he said.

“But this isn’t a broken football club. It is a connected football club that has had a bad season.”

And he denied there was a more serious problem running through the club, adding: “We all understand what toxic looks likes. I’ve seen it at our football club previously and right the way through football.

“We had enough opportunities to get something from the game yet again and we haven’t.

“We showed plenty of resolve, fight and grit and we have had opportunities but they executed their chance and got themselves in front, and ultimately we didn’t have enough quality to get something from the game.”