Fiorentina v Liverpool: Adrian Mutu says beating Liverpool is no longer a big deal

29 September 2009 10:22
Steven Pienaar is almost certainly out of Everton's Europa League clash with BATE Borisov on Thursday, but the club believe he is not due for a long spell on the sidelines. The midfielder picked up a knee injury in Saturday's victory at Portsmouth, and has been on crutches since. Everton's medical team have assessed the injury and hope that it is just heavy bruising. Agony: Pienaar appeared to be in a lot of pain at Fratton Park But they plan further checks this week and will have a better idea of the injury when the bruising has reduced. Everton leave for Minsk on Wednesday for the Group I showdown, and Pienaar is highly unlikely to be involved and may well also miss Sunday's home league game with Stoke. Physio Mick Rathbone said: 'There's no timescale at the moment but hopefully it will only be something short term. Steven took an almighty knock on the inside of the knee, so he is pretty sore. 'There's a lot of bruising and a lot of swelling around the area, so we've got him on crutches at the moment.'

Source: Telegraph