Everton club captain James Tarkowski will lead his side into battle against Newcastle United twice in the space of five days
James Tarkowski of Everton (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
James Tarkowski of Everton (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
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James Tarkowski has no interest in using Everton's small squad as an excuse for failing to progress in the cups, and instead sees their lack of numbers as a positive.
The Blues have never won the League Cup, but go into Thursday night's tie with Newcastle United eyeing a fourth quarter-final appearance since 2019.
Everton's last major honour was their FA Cup success back in 1995, but in recent years they have seen clubs from outside of the traditional trophy winners, including the 2025 Carabao Cup-winning Magpies, taste success.
Club captain Tarkowski is desperate to join them, and despite their troubled transfer window leaving them with gaps in the squad, David Moyes' side had been enjoying an unbeaten start to the season until recently.
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Run-ins with London duo Chelsea and Arsenal in the past fortnight ended in 2-0 defeats though, and so Tarkowski is hoping to use the first of two meetings with Newcastle in five days to bounce back.
“We’ve got to demand [we don’t feel sorry for ourselves],” said the 33-year-old.
“The squad is small, so it’s only us who can go out on that pitch and play. It’s good for the lads because you know you’re going to get plenty of minutes at the moment.
“We need to start picking up results.
“Even though we won against Ipswich (before the international break), it feels, not like a slump, but it feels like we need to work our way out of this.
“It’s a big game on Thursday in the cup that we’re looking forward to.”
Everton will hope to have Jarrad Branthwaite and Jack Grealish available for the visit of the Magpies, with Branthwaite missing the defeat at Arsenal due to concussion protocols and Grealish absent through illness.
Vitalii Mykolenko was substituted through injury at the Emirates Stadium is unlikely to have recovered in time, with James Garner potentially switching to left-back in the Ukrainian's absence.