Photo by Vitalii Kliuiev/Getty Images
Photo by Vitalii Kliuiev/Getty Images
Everton currently have a number of players on international duty. Vitalii Mykolenko is one of them, but tonight he isn’t playing for Ukraine in their Nations League match against Georgia.
It has been a really solid start to the new season for Vitalii Mykolenko. The left-back has started every game so far, and also played every minute for Everton.
He automatically became a very important player, after being left as the only natural left-back in the squad following the decision to loan out Adam Aznou.
So far, Mykolenko has arguably been one of Everton’s best players, making big contributions to the five clean sheets in seven games.
But news coming through this evening will concern David Moyes.
Vitalii Mykolenko to miss Ukraine vs Georgia with injury
Ukraine played their opening Nations League match on Friday against Hungary and won 1-0, with Mykolenko playing the full 90 minutes.
Tonight they are back in action against Georgia and looking to make it two victories from two games – but Mykolenko is set to miss out.
The X account Zorya Londonsk, a good source for Ukrainian football news, released a graphic earlier today of Ukraine’s squad list for tonight – and Mykolenko’s name is absent. In the accompanying caption, they say that he is missing out with an injury.
Ukraine’s manager said ahead of this game that Mykolenko had a problem and ‘we won’t be risking him’. There is no word currently on what Mykolenko’s issue actually is, or any information on the severity or a potential lay-off time.
But to see that he has picked up an injury is obviously a worry for Everton.
Everton can’t lose Mykolenko to injury for an extended period
Arguably, Mykolenko and Thierno Barry are the most important players to keep fit in the coming months due to the lack of other natural options to replace them.
We of course need to wait and see what information emerges about Mykolenko. But it would be a major blow to lose him for an extended period – especially when he has been really good so far as well.
Since signing for Everton, Mykolenko has missed a handful of games per season with injuries, but has played the bulk. So hopefully this will only be another case of that at worst.