Unsworth: Injured players 'coming along nicely'

This made me smile though:

"He's had a couple sessions with our Under-23s group, which is great. We've introduced the ball with him now with players around him so that's great."

It's a bit like: "I've had loads of driving lessons, and next week we'll actually be starting the car."

They will refresh the squad just in time for Christmas, we need them back and firing on all cylinders.

Pickford, Kenny, Jagielka, Keane, Baines, Davies, Baningime (still eligible I think), Lennon, Lookman, Rooney, Calvert-Lewin.

Of course Holgate as well.

It's been a while since 11 English players started a Premier League match, I bet.

I have honestly put the long term injured to the back of my mind. I really cannot see them getting up to speed until late in the season.

I also worry their return may have the board feeling the January window isn't as important with the squad looking healthier and they won't consider how long these players will need to get back to their best. If that's even possible in Coleman's and Bolasie's cases?

John (post 7), that would be great to see. Good shout mate. It's not the worst side we could put out either.

Funes Mori is an interesting one. Almost universally slated when he was getting a game but we miss him now. I remember how the RS used to slate Ronnie Whelan. He then got a long-term injury and the gobshites would tell you how much better they would be when Ronnie was back in the team.

I have always thought Ramiro will come good and feared that when he does he'll be off to a "bigger club".

It's funny how injured players become better or more important when their replacements are shite.

I have no real idea what his tactics are or will be but further improvement in passion and effort would be good... and a record financial penalty for every time Baines cuts back!

I was under the impression that he had been at Grinch Farm, for his treatment and rehab, not Desert Island Discs. :-)

Tomorrow we need one big positive – namely, 3 points.

Barkley has had more than enough chances to develop.

Hopefully Coleman will get back to his best, he's sorely missed.

Bolasie never got going but I'm looking forward to seeing him add a bit of speed and flair to the attack, hope he's learnt how to cross.

Funes Mori is marginally better for the heart than Williams.

And he seems desperate to leave the club. All very strange.

Whatever his skills as a goal-scoring/providing midfielder, and at best they're fleeting, and by now fairly historic, some of us now contend him as the answer to our forward line!

As if! By way of consistent performance he's known up and down the land as "frit" and is therefore the opponent of choice for any defence in the league.

By that logic let's reintegrate McCarthy back into the first team by sticking him in the nets for a month or two. After all, what harm could it do?

Secondly, I think we're missing him more than anyone else that's out. That's not through a blue tinted memory of his consistency, but he provided far more than anyone else has so far this season despite his maddening mistakes.

If I was an opposition midfielder or defender, he's the player in the Everton squad I'd least like to play against. He might not exactly give you a hard time for 90 minutes but he can make things happen when his moment comes.

Would I play him when he comes back? Absolutely. I wouldn't be basing a team around him but he's a worthy member of the team if he's fit and we're paying his wages.

His "mysterious" injuries must be the most reported upon injuries we have suffered for a decade

I have to say, Chris, I've never seen anything to show him as "desperate" to leave the club. The one reported chance he did have, to go to Chelsea, was seemingly rejected.

Whilst there's been no news of him staying since Koeman went, speculation of him leaving seems to have died down for now.

So... never a peep out of any of you now eh? Brilliant performances for England... and Man City – is he fulfilling his potential? Sometimes the player needs quality around him to excel.

You could slot any name into the frame, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Barkley... what we need is someone to get the best out of then, not kick the crap out of them on here, they get that from incompetent managers. On their day, in the right position, with the right set-up, they do the business. That's why we have a manager, that's why we have several No 10s; we had a crap manager.

Trouble is, as the saying goes, it's hard to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys...

James McCarthy played a month ago at Chelsea in the League Cup and played quite well.

He could do a job at right back given the plethora of options in the middle or could play in a pair of box-to-boxers with Tom Davies.