Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko plus Aston Villa's Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara are all injury doubts for this Saturday's game at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Aston Villa's Amadou Onana and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite
Aston Villa's Amadou Onana and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite
Amadou Onana was one of the first Everton players to step inside their new home on the Mersey waterfront. But the Aston Villa midfielder is set to miss this Saturday’s game at Hill Dickinson Stadium with a hamstring injury.
Onana joined the Blues from Lille for £33.5million in August 2022 but made a £50million transfer to the West Midlands after two seasons at Goodison Park.
Speaking ahead of the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, the Dakar-born star, who moved to Brussels with his mother and sister aged 11, to join his father, made a visit to the construction site at Bramley-Moore Dock.
Although the seats had still not been added, Onana and a group of Merseyside journalists – including this correspondent – were able to climb to the top of the steep south stand and the player himself remarked how you could “hear the fans already.”
However, with the 24-year-old currently hamstrung and having missed Aston Villa’s 3-0 home loss against Crystal Palace on August 31 followed by Belgium’s brace of 6-0 victories on the current international break, against Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan, he is now expected to remain on the sidelines for Unai Emery’s side’s trip to the Mersey waterfront with the Spanish manager reportedly earmarking the Europa League opener at home to Bologna on September 25 for the player’s potential return, alongside Boubacar Kamara, who has also been out since the Eagles’ visit with a similar hamstring problem.
Everton will be hoping for more encouragement over Jarrad Branthwaite has he steps up his recovery from a hamstring injury of his own.
The Blues’ most valuable asset, whose new five-year deal was announced on July 2, missed the pre-season tour of the USA for the Premier League Summer Series after picking up a knock at Blackburn Rovers.
But despite returning for the friendly at home to Roma – the club’s inaugural first team game at Hill Dickinson Stadium – he is yet to kick a ball in competitive action so far this term.
Then Everton player Amadou Onana joins Merseyside journalists in the south stand of the club's new stadium during its construction on November 2, 2022
Then Everton player Amadou Onana joins Merseyside journalists in the south stand of the club's new stadium during its construction on November 2, 2022
Also battling to be fit for David Moyes’ men is Vitalii Mykolenko.
The left-back hobbled off early against Roma and then subsequently missed the matches against Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion before starting against Mansfield Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but then withdrew from the Ukraine squad to face France and Azerbaijan with reports claiming an MRI scan had confirmed an injury the 26-year-old had picked up while turning out for the Blues.
Another former Everton midfielder, Ross Barkley, is sidelined for Villa, along with right-back Andres Garcia.