McCarthy Injuries a Cause for Concern

Ireland assistant coach Roy Keane got in a bit of a spat this week with Everton over how the team has handled injuries to James McCarthy and Seamus Coleman going into international fixtures. He claimed that the pair's injuries aren't as bad as the team says they are, but it turns out that the recent injuries suffered by James McCarthy are becoming a concern.

The Everton boss feels that a player as young as McCarthy shouldn't be having this many hamstring issues and may look to tweak the midfielder's training regimen.

Maybe it’s managing the work he does in training. We need to find the right formula because we need to make sure we don’t get these sort of injuries on a regular basis. He’s a super-fit boy and he shouldn't be picking up these sort of knocks.

If Martinez thinks that altering McCarthy's training load could keep him healthy then I'm all for it. Everton have seen far too many of their first team players miss significant time with injury and the team cannot afford to lose McCarthy for any extended period. The midfielder has been a bright spot on a struggling team and I for one am not ready to see a holding midfield pair of Darron Gibson and Muhamed Besic on a full time basis.

The Toffees have already had their defensive reserves depleted by injury, and now their midfield ranks are growing thinner with Gareth Barry out for several weeks and Kevin Mirallas still nursing his own hamstring injury. So if McCarthy needs to sit out this week's match against West Ham, so be it.

Everton have been doing well in the Europa League, despite struggling in league matches. Now the FA Cup getting closer, so anything close to a full squad would be ideal. Perhaps if Martinez and the coaching staff are able to alter McCarthy's training then he will be able to stay healthy for the second half of the season.