Everton tasted defeat in their final pre-season friendly against AS Roma, but the biggest loss was the injury to Vitaliy Mykolenko.
The final outing of pre-season is now in the books, with David Moyes now planning for the curtain raiser in just over a week.
Leeds United await Everton at Elland Road in the opening game of their 2025/26 Premier League campaigns.
Everton were able to welcome back Jarrad Branthwaite to the fold on Saturday in the first full-capacity game at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Branthwaite missed Everton’s USA tour through injury, which was far from the preparations that Moyes was hoping for.
With Moyes demanding more signings at Everton, the Scot has now seen another player fall to injury, with Mykolenko withdrawn early in the game.
Everton v AS Roma - Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Fabio Rossi/AS Roma via Getty Images
Vitaliy Mykolenko injury update from Everton
Mykolenko changed shirt numbers at Everton over the summer, but it does not look as if he will be in action for the opening games of the term.
The Ukraine international went down in the opening 12 minutes of the game holding his groin.
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Speaking after the game, Moyes shared his early understanding of the left-back’s injury ahead of the trip to Leeds, as well as the situation of Nathan Patterson and Harrison Armstrong.
“We’ll wait to see what the report says, we’ve not had the chance yet,” said Moyes.
“[Nathan] Patterson is getting checked for a hernia and [Harrison] Armstrong picked up a bit of a thigh strain in training.”
Adam Aznou signed for Everton from Bayern Munich earlier this summer, and the youngster was thrown in at the deep end against Roma.
The backup left-back has very quickly become the starter, and he has just over a week to get himself prepared to face Leeds.
Adam Aznou faces Everton start in Premier League opener
Aznou wanted to play regular football, which is why he wanted to leave Bayern Munich when Everton came calling.
Although he would have to battle Mykolenko for the starting spot, the youngster knew opportunities would be there for him to impress.
He will not have wanted to see his opportunity come at the expense of Mykolenko; he now has a chance to make himself Everton’s starter.
Questions may be asked about Aznou’s involvement in Roma’s goal, but the youngster will have a big opportunity at Elland Road to prove his worth.