David Moyes was speaking after Everton’s Carabao Cup second round tie against Mansfield Town at the Hill Dickinson StadiumDavid Moyes reacts on the touchline during the English League Cup second round football match between Everton and Mansfield Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool, north west England on August 27, 2025.(Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

David Moyes is contemplating more defensive reinforcements in the final days of the transfer window. The Blues boss was able to turn to Vitalii Mykolenko for the first time this season after the left-back recovered from a groin issue to make the starting line-up against Mansfield Town.

But with Jarrad Branthwaite out and Seamus Coleman, Nathan Patterson, Adam Aznou and James Tarkowski also having missed matches through injury since April, he is intent on ensuring he leaves nothing to chance beyond next week’s deadline.

He also confirmed the club was exploring a departure for Youssef Chermiti and will decide whether to keep Harrison Armstrong with his first team squad over the coming days.

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Mykolenko’s return was a welcome sight for Moyes given the impact his absence has had on his set-up, with central midfielder James Garner starting both Premier League matches at left back.

He remains concerned over the durability of his defence given their fitness issues over the past four months, with even the resolute Tarkowski ruled out for months when he picked up a hamstring problem in April.

Asked whether the issues at the back had impacted his transfer plans heading into the final week of the window, Moyes said: “It already has changed a lot of my plans because we’re without Jarrad and we have been without Myko for certainly the first couple of games.

“But you have to remember we had this at the end of last season as well, we’ve had it all through the summer.

“So it’s not as if we necessarily got it better. We’ve got people back but maybe they’re injured.

“So I’ve just got to make sure that we’re not short again if I can help it. Certainly we were short for the first two games of the Premier League.”

Moyes was speaking after his side overcame League One side Mansfield Town 2-0 to book a Carabao Cup third round trip to Wolves. Carlos Alcaraz and Beto secured the win with second half goals, while teenage midfielder Harrison Armstrong was instrumental in the victory.

On whether Armstrong had done enough to convince him to keep the England youth international with the senior squad this season, he said: “We’ll see. I thought Harrison played well. I thought Jimmy Garner played very well as well.

“But Harrison, for his age, did really well tonight and played well. There’s a couple of options we’ve got for Harrison, so we’ll decide over the next few days what we’re going to do.”

One player who does look set to leave is forward Youssef Chermiti, who was left out of Everton’s squad despite being fit. Having fallen behind Beto and new signing Thierno Barry, the 21-year-old was always likely to be a contender for an exit after struggling for first team minutes over two difficult years.

Moyes, who did not specify whether the talks were over a loan move or a permanent exit, confirmed: “There might be a chance that he leaves.”

While it was not until the second half that Everton found a breakthrough, he was pleased with his team’s overall performance, explaining: “I thought we played well in the first half as well. I have probably had 100 of these games over my career and probably 99 of them have been rubbish. I thought tonight we actually played well enough.

“We weren’t clinical enough but our football was fine. For the best part of 40 minutes, we dominated. They probably had three or four minutes before half time. I had lots of things that I quite liked. There were lots of things we could have done much better.

“But, ultimately, we had to navigate a side who had just won four on the bounce and have started the league quite well. So the players did OK.”