Baines poised to return

Posted Saturday, October 31, 2009 by PA

Everton could be without 10 senior players for their Barclays Premier League match against Aston Villa.

Defender Leighton Baines is poised to return from a calf injury, while striker Louis Saha, who has a similar problem, will be given time to prove his fitness.

Ayegbeni Yakubu is in contention for a place in the starting XI after overcoming his heel problem to play against Tottenham on Tuesday, while Joseph Yobo, who did not feature, could return after suffering concussion.

Ahead of the game, manager David Moyes revealed his decision to not speak to the media after Everton's Carling Cup defeat to Tottenham was the only way he could make his feelings clear about fixture congestion.

Moyes did not attend the press conference at White Hart Lane after Everton's 2-0 defeat there on Tuesday, a fixture which was the team's third away match - and defeat - in six days.

With the Toffees having played at Bolton on Sunday, Moyes felt it was unfair that his players were not allowed the same recovery period as their opponents, who played Stoke on Saturday.

"It would have given us an opportunity to recover the players," said Moyes.

"That's the normal sort of thing you might do, play Saturday then Tuesday or Sunday then Wednesday.

"That would be the normal recovery time for most teams to make it relatively fair - and it wasn't fair.

"Tottenham had the chance to play on Saturday and we had to play on Sunday and then Tuesday.

"People have said that I'm whingeing about it - I hope I'm not.

"When I tried not to talk about it, it wasn't to affect the media in any way.

"It was my only chance to put over a point which wasn't getting heard by the people who were organising the tournament."

Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel could make his 200th successive appearance.

Friedel is likely to replace Brad Guzan even though his fellow American made three penalty shoot-out saves in the midweek Carling Cup win over Sunderland.

Defender Stephen Warnock is battling to overcome an ankle injury suffered against the Black Cats and Nicky Shorey could deputise if he is ruled out.

Striker Emile Heskey and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker picked up knocks but Villa manager Martin O'Neill is hopeful of having them available.

John Carew and Steve Sidwell, who made way for the duo at the Stadium of Light, will be in contention for a recall to the starting line-up.

Martin O'Neill believes Everton will come to terms with the loss of star defender Joleon Lescott in the same way as Aston Villa recovered from the retirement of skipper and centre-back Martin Laursen.

The Toffees have made a stuttering start to the current campaign following Lescott's departure to Manchester City in a #24million move, after edging out Villa and finishing fifth in the Barclays Premier League last season.

Villa also struggled to cope after Laursen was ruled out of the second half of last season with a knee injury before hanging up his boots, until they replaced him with Richard Dunne and James Collins two months ago. O'Neill is a big admirer of Saturday's opponents and expects them to be challenging them again for a European spot by the time the season reaches its climax.

The former Celtic boss said: "It's been a really tough start for them. They were involved in the UEFA Cup and the last thing you want to do is have upheaval (with Lescott) particularly at that stage of the season.

"But I would say that they have shown a great resilience in the last couple of seasons. I thought by their own standards last season they got off to a stodgy start and I don't think that they could win at home for a while.

"But they fought back and ended up finishing fifth in the league and reaching the FA Cup final. I've got empathy for the situation (with Lescott) but I wouldn't start feeling too sorry for them and they will be up there challenging again. Yes, it is a stodgy period for them but my view is that, if any side is capable of pulling out of it, outside the top four, it is Everton."