Lukaku expected to be fit for Bournemouth trip

Lyndon Lloyd , 19 September, 16comments | Jump to most recent

Updated The injury that Romelu Lukaku sustained against Middlesbrough is only expected to keep him out for a few days.

The Belgian striker limped out of Everton's 3-1 win over the north-easterners at Goodison Park following a poor challenge from behind by Marten de Roon but the word from Het Laatste Nieuws' London-based football correspondent, Kristof Terreur is that he should be fit for Saturday's trip to Bournemouth.

That means he will miss the EFL Cup tie with Norwich City which will present a chance for Enner Valencia to impress against the Championship side.

Ronald Koeman confirmed that the Belgian will miss training with a toe injury and that Valencia will start against the Canaries.

“Romelu is not available," the Dutchman said. "He will have a rest about his toe for two days and then he can resume normal training and be available for the weekend.

"Enner Valencia will start."

Reader Comments (16)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer

Steve Bingham
1 Posted 19/09/2016 at 08:02:57

Ah, in Kone we trust!!! NOT!

Colin Glassar
2 Posted 19/09/2016 at 08:14:13

I thought it was his big toe?

Paul Smith
3 Posted 19/09/2016 at 08:29:41

Hope so, just got one of the 1400 tickets available.

We lack firepower when he's unavailable. I think the key to our success is keeping him fit.

Gordon White
4 Posted 19/09/2016 at 10:06:21

Will be a good opportunity for Valencia to show what he can do. Not sure about him up there all alone though. Could be paired with Kone? Hopefully a chance for other players too.

Kieran Fitzgerald
5 Posted 19/09/2016 at 11:53:22

Norwich game has come at a good time. Continued momentum and a chance to give one or two players game time.

While it might sound like a contradiction to say continued momentum but resting players, the overall approach that has been asked of the squad by Koeman is attitude, effort and commitment. Players not getting a regular start in the league may get a chance to impress against Norwich. They will make damn sure they work harder than the regular starters.

Liam Reilly
6 Posted 19/09/2016 at 13:45:34

Should have enough backup without Rom to deal with Norwich.

Will be interesting to see if Kone or Valencia get the nod or Niasse (can't see it myself, but he does have a shirt and surely with his reputation in tatters, he should be working his arse off in training).

Brian Porter
7 Posted 19/09/2016 at 16:00:08

A good chance for Koeman to show West Ham where they went wrong. They signed one of the most exciting strikers from the last World Cup and then played him as a midfielder, then people knocked Enner Valencia for not scoring enough. Maybe Koeman will give him the opportunity to lead the line against Norwich.

I definitely would hate to see Kone starting. I wish we'd got rid of him in the summer but who would want him? Valencia may feel he has something to prove and this is an ideal opportunity for him to show he can be a reliable backup to Rom.

Brian Cleveland
8 Posted 19/09/2016 at 16:29:34

Might we even go with Deulofeu up front as we did in a couple of the friendlies? I would guess not as we're the home team and more likely to be pressing rather than playing on the counter, but it's an option that has been tested a little... and didn't work out too badly, but I would expect really Valencia.

Drew O'Neall
9 Posted 19/09/2016 at 16:47:54

Brian

My friend, a West Ham fan, says Valencia was atrocious and they couldn't believe Koeman took him. Not because of a lack of scoring but a general lack of talent as a professional footballer.

I will get behind anyone in a blue shirt, be it Kone, Niasse or Valencia, but let's not get carried away with expectations for this chap.

Thomas Surgenor
10 Posted 19/09/2016 at 17:01:04

Koeman has said in his presser that it'll be Valencia who gets the nod from the start.

Gerry Quinn
11 Posted 19/09/2016 at 17:14:11

Is Naismith available?

Oh, hang on...

Nigel Munford
12 Posted 19/09/2016 at 17:41:27

Crystal Palace fans were wondering why we bought Bolasie and he's turned out okay so far. Our fans were wondering why we bought Stekelenburg and Gana, and both have done exceptionally well so far, especially the buy of the season in Gana, so why wouldn't Valencia cut it? It could just be down to correct player management, and it seems Koeman has tons of that.

Chris Gould
13 Posted 19/09/2016 at 18:12:39

Exactly, Nigel. I had a minor disagreement with someone on here who said that the Villa fans didn't rate Gueye. I said we shouldn't take much notice of their negative comments as they only watched him in a terrible team where it would have been impossible to look good. He said he hadn't heard anything so stupid and that of course we should listen to the Villa fans he was wrong!!

Koeman and Walsh will see things in a player that the average fan probably won't. They may have noted that the West Ham style of play and tactics weren't suited to Valencia. He certainly wasn't their first choice but hopefully they can get the best out of him.

Gordon Roberts
14 Posted 19/09/2016 at 18:22:07

My predicted line up for Norwich:

Stekelenburg
Coleman, Williams, Funes Mori, Oviedo
Gana, Barkley
Mirallas, Cleverley Bolasie
Valencia

Subs:
Robles
Jagielka
Holgate
Barry
Lennon
Deulofeu
Kone

Eddie Dunn
15 Posted 19/09/2016 at 18:30:31

Koeman said in the press conference that it was Rom's toe that was the problem and gave the impression that either it was usual to miss a couple of days training, or it was usual for Rom's toe to need a couple of days to improve.

Not sure if he was suggesting Rom had a regular problem with the aforementioned digit, or that the normal recuperation for a toe injury is two days!

Kunal Desai
16 Posted 19/09/2016 at 19:42:41

Wouldn't be surprised if Robles, Funes Mori, Holgate, Lennon and Cleverley all start.

Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.

About these ads