Manager David Moyes spoke on Jarrad Branthwaite's fitness ahead of Everton's trip to Arsenal
David Moyes insists that Jarrad Branthwaite is fit for Everton’s trip to Arsenal.
Following their back-to-back wins over Newcastle United and Burnley, the Blues have had an 11-day gap between fixtures before they face the Premier League leaders at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
However, the ECHO understands that the 23-year-old did not travel to Portugal for the Blues’ training trip last week and there are concerns that his playing minutes might have to be managed over the run-in of the last nine fixtures.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference for the game against the Gunners, Moyes was asked about team news and said: “There’s nothing really new, no, no.
“We’re hoping everyone is fine and Jarrad, we think, will be okay, so, we’ll go into the game and hopefully we’re all fine.”
When asked a follow-up question on managing Jarrad Branthwaite’s minutes, and wanting to play him, the 62-year-old said: “We do. We had to leave him out of one of the games and I think there was a bit of criticism because we changed the team around for different reasons.
“But it was mainly because we couldn’t play him at the time.
“He’s now back long enough, we played him Saturday-Tuesday, also because after it, we’ve had the best part of a 10-day rest and recovery period as well.
“I think there is times where you have to look after the players. I think the time of Jarrad’s injury and the length of his injury meant we were always going to have to be mindful of it.
“But look, he plays a big part, he’s a really good player, we want him fit for every game.
“But we’ve also got to take some advice at different times.”