Everton may still be without star strikers as they host Hammers

Manager Rafa Benitez revealed a mixed bag on the injury front during his pre-match press conference as Everton gear up to play West Ham United on Sunday.

First the good news for Everton as both full-backs Seamus Coleman and more unexpectedly Lucas Digne have been training and are apparently fit enough to be considered for selection.

This is a big boost especially in Digne’s case as the Frenchman was hurt before France’s latest international games and for while looked very doubtful for Sunday.

Had he not recovered enough it would have left Benitez with another considerable selection headache to add to all the others he has.

Hopefully, Digne and Coleman will be fit enough to start and that will be a significant relief for the Toffees boss.

However, Benitez will probably again have to do without his two international forwards as both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison are in all likelihood not going to be ready to feature against the east London side.

This is a real blow and would leave the Blues looking a little toothless in attack, once more exposing the lack of depth in the squad and putting further pressure on deadline day signing Salomon Rondon, who so far has looked off the pace and lacking in match-fitness.

Everton have done well enough recently without their two first-choice strikers but although Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have stepped up superbly, obviously we’re all hoping that if the two forwards can’t play on Sunday, they can return very, very soon.

The other injury news isn’t going to get many Evertonians too excited as Alex Iwobi is also back from a recent knock.

If he is fit enough I guess he will probably start on the left flank as Benitez has few alternatives unless he gives Anthony Gordon another chance there. While the youngster is still learning, given his strong showing at Old Trafford, I would be inclined to do just that.

The rest of the side will probably pick itself although it will be touch and go whether Yerry Mina will play as he will have only just got back from South America. If he’s judged too fatigued then assuming the full-backs are fit, we’ll presumably see Ben Godfrey at centre-back alongside Micheal Keane.

Moving onto the opponents and this weekend’s fixture certainly represents a stern test of the new-look Toffees team under Benitez.

In many ways the Hammers are a very similar side to the Blues; well-organised, willing to concede possession, strong at recovering from losing positions and very dangerous on the counter-attack. They also play with plenty of width and like to get the ball forward quickly to a fast and powerful lone centre-forward.

That solitary front man Michail Antonio has been in brilliant form so far this season with five goals already (the same as Everton’s leading scorer Townsend) and is arguably the most dangerous central striker in the Premier League at the moment.

David Moyes side are certainly no pushovers as you would expect from the Scot, and the ex-Everton manager has done a fine job molding West Ham into an awkward and threatening team.

They are also particularly effective away from home and will come to Goodison Park hoping at the very least to repeat last season’s smash and grab raid.

This is one of the problems for Benitez because like his opponents, he has largly been content to set up his teams to play on the break and allowing opponents to dictate the pace and tempo of games and this is something that will be difficult to do against a side like West Ham.

There will be an expectation that the home team should be more on the front foot on Sunday, which will play into the visitor’s hands. Hopefully, having a full house at the Grand Old Lady should help to avoid the problems with Everton’s performances that the Hammers and so many others exploited last season.

So, overall this match represents quite a formidable challenge and you would expect the Toffees will have to be very near their best to overcome these opponents.

But, the Blues are unbeaten at home and I’m thinking they can pick up where they left off before this latest irritating break and secure another three valuable points on Sunday.