Everton star suffers ‘really serious’ injury during international break – five could miss Liverpool derby
Everton have suffered a new injury concern during the international break.
Vitalii Mykolenko was forced off for the Ukraine in their 3-0 Nations League loss against Belgium. The left-back went down in the 67th minute and needed medical attention – but could not continue and was substituted
What’s been said
According to Ukraine boss Serhiy Rebrov, Mykolenko has potentially sustained a serious issue. Via the Ukraine Football Federation’s website, Rebrov said: “Unfortunately, he has an injury, he will do an MRI, we’ll see. I know Vitalii. If he didn’t continue playing, then the injury was really serious.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian football reporter Zorya Londonsk subsequently reported that Mykolenko stopped to talk to reporters in the mixed zone after the defeat. Londonsk posted on X: “Mykolenko confirms to us in the mixed zone that it’s a thigh injury he picked up today (not clear if it’s front or back or what exactly) He will wait and see the seriousness of it when he returns to Everton tomorrow.”
Mykolenko is Everton’s only senior recognised left-sided full-back in the current squad. This season, the 25-year-old has made a total of 29 appearances, recording two assists. He created his first goal in the Premier League last month when crossing for Jake O’Brien’s equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
After the game, manager David Moyes challenged Mykolenko to add more assists to his game. The Goodison Park boss said: “He needs to improve on it. We probably crossed four balls into the keeper’s arms tonight and if we’d done that better, we’d have given ourselves a better chance of scoring. The one half-decent ball we put in, Jake (O’Brien) gets in round the back and scores.”
Possible decisions to make
Everton are not back in action until Wednesday 2 April when they make the trip across Stanley Park to face Liverpool in the Merseyside derby. As things stand, there could be five members of Moyes’ squad unavailable at Anfield. Dwight McNeil (knee), Iliman Ndiaye (knee) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (hamstring) are working back from long-term injuries. In addition, on-loan Lyon midfielder Orel Mangala has ruptured his ACL and won’t play again this campaign.
Should Mykolenko be unavailable then Moyes will have to reshuffle his defence that has helped put together a nine-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League. Ashley Young is the likeliest option to fill in on the left-hand side but the Toffees could turn to captain Seamus Coleman or Nathan Patterson to operate on the opposite flank.
Alternatively, Moyes could look to deploy Jarrad Branthwaite as a makeshift full-back. Branthwaite is a natural left-footer and would provide balance and O’Brien could fill in centrally, with either Young, Coleman or Patterson deployed on the right. Moyes will start to ponder his decision when he gets more details on Mykolenko’s issue.
