Tim Howard Out With Broken Back

Tim Howard is set to miss this weekends FA Cup 6th round match against Wigan due to a broken back sustained against Oldham Athletic. The injury will also keep the American international out of action for approximately 6 weeks. Thankfully the injury is not expected to require surgery, and it is reportedly similar to the one suffered by Newcastle keeper Coloccini.

In his place Jan Mucha will get the start this weekend and going forward. With Phil Jagielka also missing due to injury, most Evertonians are in full panic mode for such a key fixture. Mason Springthorpe will continue to fill in as Mucha's deputy during Howard's absence.

While this news certainly makes things more difficult on Saturday, Mucha should still be more than up to the task. Fans like to rag on Mucha and he certainly isn't in Howard's class, but Mucha does have some talent. He does very well at shot stopping, and appears to have improved on his crosses. I'd still prefer Howard even with his drop in form this season, but some of the calls on Twitter for Moyes to start Springthorpe are just ridiculous. Even the most talented of keepers can have problems transitioning to the EPL, and asking such a young and inexperienced keeper to step in for such a critical game is frankly ridiculous.

Even with the injury Everton should win this match handily. Of course with past results as well as this being Everton it won't be that easy, let's not pretend the sky is magically falling because our keeper was injured. Rather we should be worried because of the same things we have had problems with all season.