Everton suffered an injury setback ahead of the Merseyside derby with James McCarthy aggravating an injury on international duty.
Republic of Ireland’s James McCarthy in action with Georgia’s Levan Mchedlidze
A report in the Telegraph has suggested that Everton have been left incredibly frustrated with James McCarthy after he aggravated an injury while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.
The Telegraph reports that McCarthy declared himself fit to play in Ireland’s World Cup qualifier with Wales on Friday, but had to be pulled out of the side right before the game after aggravating a previous hamstring injury that had kept him out of the Toffees’ last two fixtures.
While this is not the first time that Ronald Koeman has been left unhappy with Martin O’Neill over McCarthy’s situation – the Mirror reported in October that the Dutchman was unhappy about the midfielder’s workload while away with his country – the Telegraph is now suggesting that the Everton boss is more annoyed at the 26-year-old for declaring himself fit in the first place.
The Telegraph adds that McCarthy is now set for a few weeks on the sidelines – along with fellow midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin – so will miss the Merseyside derby with Liverpool this weekend.
Liverpool’s Adam Lallana in action with Everton’s James McCarthy
Though McCarthy has been more of a fringe player for the Toffees this term, the fact that Schneiderlin is also out of Saturday’s trip to Anfield means that Koeman has few options to pick from when selecting who is going to play in the middle of the park.
And with the Everton boss previously being left frustrated with McCarthy’s actions on international duty, it can surely be suggested that this latest setback will do very little for his chances of forcing his way back into the team on a regular basis.
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