Everton endured a bruising afternoon at Stamford Bridge having slipped to a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea, while David Moyes’ men also picked up a few injuries to key players
Jack Grealish
Jack Grealish has picked up a hamstring issue according to David Moyes
View 2 Images
David Moyes has revealed that Jack Grealish has picked up a potential hamstring injury. The on-loan Manchester City man has been a star performer for Everton this season.
The England man has two goals and four assists to his name but might now face an extended period on the sidelines. Grealish was taken off late on and replaced by summer signing Tyler Dibling and Moyes has clarified the winger’s issue.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Everton boss said: "Jack felt his hamstring so we just need to be careful with these boys."
Grealish’s withdrawal was the second injury blow that Everton had to cope with at Stamford Bridge. In-form midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was also taken off with his own issue and Moyes has suggested that his exit knocked the Toffees off of their stride.
He added: “It was a blow to us and we didn't quite regroup after it as well as we should have done. It took us a wee while, but I thought by the time we got to half-time, we were the more likely to score.
“For us to go 2-0 down seemed really harsh because Jack had a chance through on goal. We don’t score, they distribute it quickly, got up the pitch and made it 2-0 which felt harsh. But look, we'd done that a wee bit last week against Nottingham Forest. We scored in the minute just before half-time, so it was a bit similar to that.”
Following both injury blows, Moyes was forced into the tricky decision of taking midfielder James Garner off too in order to avoid a suspension. He said: “Yes, we'll need to just weigh it up.
“We took Jimmy off at the end – he played as well as anyone on the pitch – but I just couldn't afford him to get booked and knowing there's another game coming up next week. So we got him out of there with 10 minutes to go and to try to protect him a wee bit for the next games.”
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was withdrawn with an injury
View 2 Images
Everton eventually fell to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge to bring their brilliant recent form to an end. The returning Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto did the damage for Enzo Maresca’s men.
It leaves Everton eighth in the Premier League ahead of next weekend’s clash with league leaders Arsenal. Meanwhile, Chelsea are fourth and eight points behind the Gunners following their victory.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Footb all content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Content Image
Content Image