Coleman injury blow for Toffees

23 January 2014 12:17

Everton full-back Seamus Coleman has been ruled out of Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Stevenage due to the injury he picked up against West Brom.

Coleman limped off in the 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw at The Hawthorns on Monday and the Toffees subsequently confirmed the Republic of Ireland international had sustained a "minor soft tissue injury".

Giving an update on his players on Thursday at his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Sky Bet League One side Stevenage, Everton boss Roberto Martinez said: "The only difference from the squad on Monday is Seamus Coleman.

"He picked up a minor soft tissue injury, so he'll miss the weekend and we'll assess him from there.

"He adds to Steven Pienaar (groin) and Ross Barkley (broken toe) who are still unavailable, on top of the long-term injuries to Arouna Kone, Darron Gibson (both knee) and Gerard Deulofeu (hamstring).

"Antolin Alcaraz (muscle fatigue) is still recovering well but will be missing at the weekend."

Regarding on-loan Barcelona forward Deulofeu, absent for the last seven games, Martinez added: "Gerard is not too far away.

"I will be very surprised if he is not available at the end of next week.

"That will be really positive because we knew it would be a tricky injury for the player he is. He's a real sprinter and that injury needs to be well looked after.

"I will be delighted if we can get him back then."

Meanwhile, Martinez hopes the injury suffered by Monaco's Radamel Falcao does not affect the chances of Everton completing the signing of the Colombia striker's club-mate Lacina Traore.

Everton have been granted a work permit for 6ft 8ins Ivory Coast frontman Traore, who they are looking to capture on loan for the rest of the season.

Reports have suggested Falcao is facing a long spell out of action - that could possibly include the summer's World Cup - due to the knee problem he sustained this week, and that the setback for Monaco might mean they opt to hang on to Traore.

Martinez said: "I hope not. It is shocking news around European football when a player of the quality of Radamel Falcao gets a long-term injury.

"We hope that is not something that should affect the decision to allow Lacina to go out on loan.

"I think it would go down to what the player needs in his development and I hope that (Falcao's injury) would have no bearing on the decision.

"We are really far down the line and it would be a real disappointment not to complete it, so we will see what today brings.

"We have got the work permit and we feel quite excited about bringing Lacina to Everton."

Source: PA