Jordan Pickford, Jack Grealish and Thierno Barry in action for Everton, with a silhouette of an unidentified player alongside them

Jordan Pickford, Jack Grealish, Thierno Barry and an unidentified Everton playerBreaking Media

How Everton are shaping up for Hull City clash after injury blow to David Moyes favourite

Assistant Editor AUTHORITY Senior editor and writer responsible for daily news flow, editorial standards, and active contribution across the site network. FOCUS Editorial oversight, newsroom workflow, verified reporting, and original content. THE BRIEF Former Sports Mole correspondent Daniel manages the network’s daily output, working between reporters and experts to ensure accuracy and speed. As a senior contributor, he also writes and publishes original content across the network.

Published on:

02 Oct 2026, 6:10 pm

David Moyes is still a few days away from being able to lock in his favoured Everton starting line-up to face Hull City.

The Toffees have not been in action since beating Ipswich Town 1-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 19 September.

And there are still another nine days to go until Everton are back in action with a trip to Humberside.

Everton have a number of players away on international duty, making it difficult for Moyes to plan too far in advance.

That proved on Thursday following news that Vitalii Mykolenko has returned from Ukraine duty early due to an unspecified injury.

While it is not yet clear if Mykolenko is facing a spell on the sidelines, it may well be that Moyes has to adjust without the left-back.

What are Everton's other injury issues?

Heading into the three-week international break, Merlin Rohl and Christian Norgaard were the only injured players.

However, Norgaard was pictured in group training this week and Rohl is also believed to be back.

Moyes is unlikely to risk either player from the off against Hull, though, if at all, as they are eased back to fitness - especially in Norgaard's case.

That potentially leaves just Mykolenko as the only absentee, but even that is a blow as he is a real favourite for Moyes.

Mykolenko has played in every minute of Everton's season so far, which says a lot about the lack of depth at right-back.

But there may well be a solution to the problem that does not disrupt the team too much.

Early Everton team news vs Hull as David Moyes has question marks over duo

How Everton could line up vs Hull

The obvious solution on the face of it would be to use Ainsley Maitland-Niles at left-back, where he has played before.

Jake O'Brien could then feature down the right, as we have so often seen, with Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski able to continue in the middle.

Other alternatives include using James Garner at left-back and sticking with Maitland-Niles on the right, but Moyes will be reluctant to move the former out of a position that he is thriving in.

Likewise with Branthwaite at left-back and either O'Brien or Michael Keane partnering Tarkowski.

The rest of the team, fitness dependent, could be the same as it was against Ipswich.

There are options there for Moyes, but keeping disruption to a minimum is the key.

And with plenty more internationals still to come involving Everton players, the picture could further shift yet.

James Alan Tarkowski