Vitalii Mykolenko was forced off with an ankle injury during Ukraine’s friendly against Moldova this evening and will undergo a further scan tomorrow to determine the extent of any damage.
The fullback was making only his second appearance since recovering from ankle ligament damage sustained in Everton’s 2-0 win over Liverpool at Goodison Park in April but appears to have suffered a problem with the same left foot.
Mykolenko avoided surgery on the ankle in April but may not have built up sufficient strength in order to return in time to represent his country at Euro 2024 this month.
The 25-year-old went down after clearing the ball, received medical treatment on the pitch and tried to play on but, just like in the derby, had to come off due to the pain he was in from the injury.
Initial reports suggest he has avoided serious injury but it places a huge question mark on his availability for Ukraine’s opening game of the tournament against Romania next Monday.
“Mykolenko has had an MRI scan already and will have another scan tomorrow,” Ukraine national head coach Serhiy Rebrov said. “We will see what happens but I feel a lot calmer now than from the initial incident.”