Rafa Benitez has suggested that two key Everton players are doubtful for the Toffees’ FA Cup Third Round clash against Hull City on Saturday [Everton FC YouTube].
Everton have snapped up two exciting full-backs in the past week, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson.
Left-back Mykolenko joined from Dynamo Kyiv for a reported fee of £17m [BBC Sport], while the deal that brought right-back Patterson from Rangers to Goodison Park is said to have been in the region of £16m [Sky Sports].
It’s always good to get your business done early in any transfer window and these signings constitute strong statements of intent from Everton.
It will take both players time to get up to speed, though.
New Everton signings doubtful for FA Cup clash vs Hull
Mykolenko’s last appearance for Dynamo came several weeks ago, while Patterson has played less than 600 minutes of club football this season because he was behind James Tavernier in the pecking order at Ibrox.
Therefore, while Benitez says he’s seeing improvements from both players, he’s still unsure whether or not they will feature against Hull.
“The first training session was for them to settle down and the second training session was much better,” said the Everton boss [Everton FC YouTube]. “The communication with their other teammates was fine and they showed that they want to do well.”
“Are they ready? We will see.
“Obviously, we have another training session today and we’ll see how they feel. If you have to play them they can play but in terms of fitness they have been 15 to 20 days without training, so we need to consider all the aspects here.”
Everton fans will no doubt be keen to see both players make their debuts tomorrow but it sounds like Benitez may look to err on the side of caution.
That certainly looks set to be the case with star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, as the club stated on Twitter on Friday afternoon that he’s ‘unlikely to be risked’ for the game at the MKM Stadium following his recent return from a long-term injury.
Everton come into the tie as heavy favourites given as Hull are languishing near the foot of the Championship table, but an upset will be on the cards if Benitez strays too far from his strongest XI.
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