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Another chance for fringe players as Everton face QPR

By Matt Townsend

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 22: David Hoilett of QPR is challenged by James McCarthy of Everton during the Barclays Premier League match between Queens Park Rangers and Everton at Loftus Road on March 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 22: David Hoilett of QPR is challenged by James McCarthy of Everton during the Barclays Premier League match between Queens Park Rangers and Everton at Loftus Road on March 22, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) /
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Following their defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday, Everton travel to west London to take on Championship side Queens Park Rangers Tuesday night in the next round of the EFL Cup.

This could well be a tricky tie and a potential banana skin as Everton face a Rangers side that has been in solid form so far this season sitting comfortably in eight place, although they’ve lost their last two games.

Fortunately at the moment anyway, there are no new injury problems for Rafa Benitez to contend with. But given the extent of the existing issues, that’s small comfort for the manager or fans.

Those injuries and the nature of last weekend’s loss in Birmingham have meant the Blues fine start to the campaign has stalled, at least for now.

Let’s not go overboard though, Everton were in the end well beaten at Villa Park but they were missing four first-choice starters including their England goalkeeper and both star strikers.

Without Jordan Pickford, Seamus Coleman, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, all probably out for a several games, the Blues will have a challenging few weeks ahead.

QPR at least on paper, won’t provide quite so stern a test of the injury ravaged Toffees squad as Villa did, but still it could be an awkward match against a side who will feel the visitors are, given their absences, potentially there for the taking.

And to make that a little more possible, we would expect that several of Benitez’s reserves and possibly a few youth team players might get another outing as the Blues boss tries to balance the demands of a cup competition Everton will surely want to go far in, and Premier League commitments.

The manager may want to rest players at the start who have been regulars so far this season, particularly some or maybe all of Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

In their place individuals like Alex Iwobi, Anthony Gordon, Andre Gomes and Tom Davies might get a further chance to stake a claim for more playing time. Another player who also could start is Jarrad Branthwaite and might we even see Ellis Simms get a few minutes up front?

Several of these players if they get to play, will have a chance to impress Benitez and possibly put themselves in the reckoning for more of a role in upcoming Premier League fixtures assuming these injury problems don’t ease quickly. While it seems a stretch the Toffees really need these and other players to step up now.

Whoever does play on Tuesday evening the team will have to perform better than for long periods of their last EFL Cup outing when Everton came close to going out at Huddersfield Town.

While Premier League points are still the number one priority, this competition realistically represents the only slim chance the Blues have of a trophy so progress is important.