It's been a particularly difficult season for Everton and Wayne Rooney.

After the boyhood blue returned to the club from Manchester United last summer, he scored in his opening two games for them against Stoke and Manchester City, the second of which being his 200th in the Premier League.

Things seemed rosy for both parties then, but the campaign quickly descended into chaos when Ronald Koeman was sacked following a run of two wins in their opening nine matches.

They also exited the Europa League at the group stages with just a solitary win, and there was a lot of negative fan reaction to the appointment of Sam Allardyce as manager in November.

Everton's form briefly picked up then, and Rooney took his tally to 10 goals in the league with a penalty against Swansea in December, but has failed to score since then.

While any fears of relegation have been allayed, Evertonians demand more than safety, especially having spent around £160m on transfers, and Allardyce's style of play has been heavily criticised.

And that was evident again on Saturday in the 0-0 draw against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby, in which the Blues were reluctant to attack against a weakened Reds team.

Once they did get on the front foot, Everton had three brilliant chances to win their first derby since 2010, with Cenk Tosun twice coming close, before Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a guilt-edged opportunity.

In a game where, in truth, there wasn't much drama, one of the main talking points revolved around Allardyce's substitution of Rooney.

England's record goalscorer was absolutely livid when he was replaced by Idrissa Gueye shortly before the hour-mark, and was pictured furiously swearing at his manager before heading down the tunnel.

Allardyce said at the time that he would be disappointed if Rooney wasn't unhappy at being dragged off, but that his frustrations should stay behind closed doors.

However, he has now revealed how he plans to deal with the 32-year-old following his behaviour at Goodison on Saturday.

According to the former England boss, he is planning to meet with Rooney to discuss what happened and the reasons why.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Allardyce said that he hopes the Scouser has now calmed down so they can resolve their dispute.

"Wayne's disappointment was frustration at the fact of being an Evertonian through and through - he's been an Evertonian all his life," he started.

"He made his debut for Everton when he was 16, he was playing in a great big derby match against Liverpool on his own park and he got substituted by the manager.

"That was too much for him to take and he had to show his frustration. We'll sit down in the next week and we'll talk it through and we'll see how he feels. I'm sure he's calmed down a little bit now."

Rooney remains a firm part of Allardyce's plans, though it remains to be seen whether the manager will himself be at the club beyond the end of this season.

He also claimed that he has sympathy for the former Manchester United captain given the amount of changes at the club in his first season back.

"Oh yes, there's no doubt about that," Allardyce said when asked if Rooney still has a future at Everton.

"The situation is it's his first season, it's been difficult for everybody. There's been, obviously, lots and lots of changes, not just behind the scenes with myself and the staff, but lots of changes with the players.

"We have to get that stability back, which I think we are slowly but surely doing, and then we have to look at what this summer will bring and what next season will bring."

Rooney has put in some impressive displays in his new central midfield role, and there was a lot of disappointment from the fans in his subsitution on Saturday.

If Allardyce is to have any chance of staying at Goodison Park, he has to improve results and performances between now and the end of the season.