In a considerable boost for Everton, Brentford manager Thomas Frank has ruled out a debut for Christian Eriksen when the two sides meet in the FA Cup this weekend [Sky Sports News].
The Toffees are set to host the Bees in a Fourth Round tie at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.
It’s Frank Lampard’s first match at the helm and he’s without six first-team players.
Abdoulaye Doucoure, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Fabian Delph and Tom Davies are all injured, while deadline day arrivals Donny van de Beek and Dele Alli are both cup-tied.
The visitors won’t be at full strength either, though.
Brentford’s Eriksen won’t face Everton
That’s as marquee deadline day signing Eriksen isn’t available.
He’s only set to actually arrive at Brentford’s training ground the day after the fixture and will then begin the process of building up to full match fitness.
The Danish international is yet to play a competitive match since collapsing on the pitch in a Euro 2020 group stage fixture against Finland in June after suffering a cardiac arrest.
“Christian will arrive on Sunday and he’ll train on Monday,” said Frank [Sky Sports News]. “That’ll be his first training.”
“His foundation is fine but that’s one thing and another is to get up to that full match intensity that we need and it’s actually more or less impossible for me to say when he will be available.”
Clearly, it’s a boost when any player of Eriksen’s ability isn’t in the opposition lineup.
But particularly when he has a strong record against your club, which is certainly the case here.
The 29-year-old former Spurs star has faced the Toffees on 12 occasions in the past and is yet to end up on the losing side.
He’s been on the winning side on seven occasions, with the other five matches ending in draws.
What’s more, he’s scored five times in those matches.
It’s a tally he could add to later in the season, when the two sides meet again in the Premier League in May.
However, he’s officially not a threat to the Merseyside club’s FA Cup ambitions.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
