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Everton offered an update on the injury to midfielder Gareth Barry today, stating that it is too early as yet to estimate when the veteran will recover from the ankle ligament damage he sustained on Sunday.
Barry went down after just 13 minutes during Everton's draw with Sunderland, following a late but fairly innocuous-looking challenge from Jordi Gomez, and was stretchered off in visible agony. Thankfully initial fears that Barry had suffered a broken leg were put to rest, but Everton have yet to ascertain the extent of the damage to his ankle ligaments.
The club's medical team are hoping that Barry's time out will be "weeks rather than months", but regardless, he stands to spend a significant length of time on the sidelines. In the meantime, both Darron Gibson and Muhamed Besic will vie to partner James McCarthy in the centre of midfield when the Blues face high-flying West Ham United after the international break.