Cal
Player Valuation: £40m
Nuno Valente and James McFadden are both set to be sidelined until April.
The duo are recovering from long-term injuries, with McFadden recuperating from a broken bone in his foot and Valente working his way back to fitness after suffering a significant calf strain.
Manager David Moyes has revealed the timescale for McFadden's return means he is set to be in contention for the first-team again early in April. However, that means the striker is set to miss Scotland's Euro 2008 qualifying games against Georgia and Italy at the end of March.
Moyes said: “Faddy is doing okay at the moment and we have had him about the place again,” said Everton boss David Moyes.
“He is walking around and making progress. But nothing has really changed. We always expected it to be between six and eight weeks and, at the moment, it is looking closer to eight before he is ready.”
The striker will undergo an x-ray in a fortnight to confirm his progress.
Head physio Mick Rathbone told evertonTV: "James McFadden is four weeks away. He will have another x-ray in two weeks time and hopefully will be able to start some jogging after that. He is doing stuff in the pool and the gym now. I think it will be nearer six weeks out than 12. When a pin is placed it does stabilise the fracture and you can be a little bit more robust with them so you do tend to get a slightly earlier return to playing."
Valente is expected to be available at the same time.
Rathbone continues: "Nuno Valente got a bad calf strain two and a half weeks ago. We see that as being a good six weeks in total to be honest because he suffered a major separation of fibres. We are keeping him fit and motivated and the time soon passes. He just did it in training stretching for a ball on a Friday morning. It is amazing you can do so much in a game and then just stretch for a ball and suffer something like that."
There is better news for Andy van der Meyde and Alan Stubbs. Stubbs has returned to light training after picking up a thigh strain in the defeat to Spurs. He could figure at Sheffield United this weekend.
van der Meyde, who is also recovering from a thigh strain, will be ready to return to training next week, ruling him out of the trip to Bramall Lane.
Slightly low on numbers, VDM - No change there.
Bit worried that Nuno may be plauged with injuries which may end his career
