Everton manager David Moyes was quizzed about which of Everton’s injured players could return for Sunday’s home clash with Brentford
David Moyes speaks at his Everton press conference on Friday
Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed that centre-back Michael Keane has ‘a chance’ of returning for Sunday’s home clash with Brentford. However, none of the other Blues players currently sidelined will be back.
Everton welcome the Bees to Hill Dickinson Stadium for their first fixture of 2026 on the back of a superb 2-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. It was a triumph made more impressive by the fact that Keane and midfielder Carlos Alcaraz were ruled out with unspecified injuries.
That meant Moyes was without seven first-team players for the trip to the Tricky Trees given centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, right-back Seamus Coleman and midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are still working their way back to fitness and given Iliman Ndiaye and fellow midfielder Idrissa Gueye are competing at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
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And asked which of the Blues’ walking wounded could be back for Brentford, Moyes said at his press conference on Friday: “Michael Keane has got a chance but I would say the others (Alcaraz, Dewsbury-Hall) don’t have a chance.”
Everton were also forced to start Jack Grealish on the bench against Forest after he missed last Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Burnley through illness.
But Moyes intimated that the midfielder, who came on in the 72nd minute, could be in contention to start against the Bees: “He is much better. He looks much better.
“He looks a lot fresher and sharper. He had a really bad illness, which affected him. He’s looking a bit better now and he’s certainly back in training.”
Ndiaye, meanwhile, gave Blues supporters a scare when he came off at half-time in Senegal’s 3-0 win over Benin on Tuesday with an ankle injury.
It was reported that Everton’s top goalscorer was set to undergo tests ahead of the round-of-16 showdown with Sudan on Saturday.
Now journalist Lee-Roy Kabeya, who first broke the news of Ndiaye‘s issue, has posted on X today (Friday): “Iliman Ndiaye did not train yesterday; he stayed at the hotel. He is expected to resume training today”
Should Senegal progress to the quarter-finals, it would mean the earliest Ndiaye and Gueye could return to the Blues would be ahead of the visit to Aston Villa on January 18.
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