Everton V Swansea at Goodison Park : Match Preview

20 December 2011 17:31
Everton manager David Moyes has dismissed speculation linking Chelsea with a £20million bid for midfielder Jack Rodwell.

Reports have suggested the England Under-21 international, who made his debut for Fabio Capello's senior squad last month, is a priority target for Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas when the transfer window opens in January.

Moyes, however, insists there has been no contact from Stamford Bridge regarding the 20-year-old, who has played just 27 minutes of Premier League football since matches against Spain and Sweden.

"I have had no offers, no contact from Chelsea - there would not be any other words I could add to that," said the Scot. "There is nothing from me. We've had no phone call."

Rodwell has been ruled out of the home match against Swansea with a hamstring injury he aggravated in the warm-up against Norwich on Saturday which prevented him from being able to come off the bench.

Moyes also confirmed his interest in Cliftonville teenager Rory Donnelly, who has also been linked with neighbours Liverpool while Swansea have had a £100,000 bid accepted already.

"We are in there trying to see what the situation is," added Moyes. "The chairman spoke with their chairman there so we are around that as well. "I am hoping to be able to add to the squad if I can but we don't have bundles of cash so we'll try to do what we can and look to an alternative market to try to get players in."

Everton's record against the promoted teams this season is poor as they were beaten at Goodison Park by QPR in their first match of the campaign and only salvaged a draw against Norwich at the weekend nine minutes from time.

"We had Norwich just recently, we have already played QPR and have only taken a point from the two of them at home so we have to be very aware of Swansea," added Moyes.

"Swansea as a club have done great; Brendan Rodgers has come in and done remarkably well to get them promoted but Roberto (Martinez) was in for a while, Paulo Sousa was in for a bit and they have created an identity and style for the club.

"I don't think they are under-estimated by Premier League teams because they are probably the highest passing team outside the top one or two. "And it is impressive for a team to be promoted and be so strong defensively (Swansea have had eight clean sheets) because you tend to find that is sometimes the failing."

Meanwhile, defender Neil Taylor hopes to give Swansea fans some early festive cheer by helping the club climb into the top half of the Barclays Premier League table in time for Christmas. The Swans currently sit 12th in the table, but victory over Everton could move them up to as high as ninth.

Claiming the three points on Merseyside would cap an excellent start to the season, given that the Welsh club were tipped by many to make a rapid return to the npower Championship after securing promotion last term.

But while 22-year-old Taylor and Swansea are only looking up the table, he also knows that a top-10 slot at Christmas could count for little if they allow standards to slip during the second half of the season. "A win would be a big boost, but every year the sides that are relegated seem to get more points," he said.

"Blackpool went down last season despite the good start they had, so no matter how many points you get you can get hauled back into it. "Forty points may be more than enough to stay up, or it may not be, you never know. Teams at the bottom can change managers and get a new lease of life, like Sunderland have.

"But we are looking above us in the table, we want to be in that top 10, and we can be in there if we win on Wednesday."

Rodgers has full-back Angel Rangel available for the trip. The Spaniard has made a rapid recovery from the ankle injury he suffered in last month's goalless draw with Aston Villa and could replace Jazz Richards in the starting line-up.

Winger Nathan Dyer is set to miss out with a foot problem, meaning Wayne Routledge and Scott Sinclair are likely to retain the wing slots.

Everton V Swansea - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.

Source: DSG