Stekelenburg still not training, Joel to start

Everton manager Ronald Koeman spoke about a couple of injured players today. Goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and midfielder James McCarthy, who were both injured in the Merseyside Derby recently, are still not training.

Stekelenburg suffered from a dead leg after defender Leighton Baines slid into him chasing a through ball behind the defence. The Dutchman has still not resumed training and at this point it is looking unlikely he will be available even for the Blues’ next two games, on the 30th at Hull and then on the 2nd against his and Koeman’s former side Southampton.

Joel played well in relief, notching his second 2-0 win in two starts this season. As Leicester City started an aerial bombardment in the second half, the Spaniard did well to come out and cut out a few crosses as well as making a good save on the one good chance the Foxes got to tie the game.

McCarthy had left the Liverpool game at halftime having re-aggravated a hamstring injury, and has previously had groin surgery earlier this season. He is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks, which puts his return into the second week of January.