James McCarthy’s hopes of making his first Everton appearance of the year in Saturday’s Merseyside derby are almost certainly over after he suffered another injury setback.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder, Everton’s most influential player before aggravating a hamstring problem in November, was aiming to return from his latest absence against Liverpool at Goodison Park. But the 24-year-old may be out for another fortnight after suffering a recurrence of the problem in training.
Roberto Martínez had said McCarthy was in contention for last weekend’s trip to Crystal Palace but the midfielder did not feature in the 1-0 win at Selhurst Park.
The former Wigan Athletic player was sidelined for a month after he played on with a hamstring injury at Wolfsburg on 27 November. He returned for two games at Christmas, being substituted in both, but has not played since the 3-2 defeat at Newcastle United on 28 December.
The derby will be the seventh successive game that McCarthy has missed with his latest hamstring problem if, as expected, he fails to recover from his training-ground setback.
Muhamed Besic’s impressive form alongside Gareth Barry has been a consolation to Martínez during McCarthy’s absence.
