Ashley Williams to miss out for Everton against Tottenham
New signing Ashley Williams is set to sit out Ronald Koeman's first competitive game as Everton boss when Tottenham visit Goodison Park on Saturday.
Koeman has said ahead of the Premier League campaign-opener that centre-back Williams, brought in from Swansea on Wednesday, will not be ready to make his debut for at least another week due to a late start to pre-season, and claims the Toffees in general are only on "70 per cent" of the fitness he wants.
Full-back Seamus Coleman (ankle) and striker Romelu Lukaku (heel) are doubts, but skipper Phil Jagielka is available to start in central defence after overcoming a hamstring problem, and two summer recruits are poised to make their bows in goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and midfielder Idrissa Gueye.
Ahead of his first competitive game at the helm, Koeman stressed he will need time as he works on his "big project" at Everton.
The Dutchman was appointed as Toffees boss in June, succeeding the sacked Roberto Martinez, and is looking to revive the Merseyside outfit, even speaking around the time about trying to emulate the glory days of the club's past.
But Koeman has emphasised it is not a quick-fix job, saying: "It is a nice challenge, it is a big project and that project is starting.
"But it will not be completed after two months - we need more time.
"That is what everybody mentions, but in our way of thinking, it needs time.
"We know normally in football you don't have time and need to win from the start. But I think there are enough good reasons to explain why we need more time."
On the visit of Tottenham, who finished eight places above Everton in third last term: Koeman said: "I'm looking forward to a full house, sold out.
"We need the support and we will get it if we do our job and show our fans we are committed to Everton, and that spirit that you need to win the game."
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino admits starting the season without Mousa Dembele is a blow but believes new signing Victor Wanyama is ready to fill the void.
Dembele will miss the first four games of the Premier League campaign as he serves the remainder of a six-match ban following his altercation with Chelsea striker Diego Costa in May.
Tottenham lost both games Dembele missed at the end of last season, one of them against Wanyama's Southampton.
Wanyama is likely to be handed his Spurs debut against Everton and Pochettino is confident the Kenyan can step into Dembele's shoes.
"It's true that Mousa was important for us last season. It's a big loss for us for the first few games but we need to deal with that," Pochettino, who also has defender Jan Vertonghen available following injury, said.
"It is a concern but it's not fair to say that the team dropped performance because Mousa wasn't in the team. It was about (the absence of) Dele Alli too and the team.
"It's an opportunity for Victor. I think Victor is a player that knows us and how we work and the philosophy and it was easy for him to develop his quality, his skill in the team.
"From day one of pre-season, he felt very comfortable and settled in the team. This is a good help for us."
Source: PAR
