Everton left-back Vitalii Mykolenko will miss his side’s remaining games this season — but does not require surgery on an ankle ligament injury.
The 24-year-old sustained the problem during last Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Goodison Park, where he had to be withdrawn at half-time. He subsequently missed Saturday’s 1-0 home win against Brentford.
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Mykolenko went to see a specialist on Monday, and Everton revealed on Tuesday that “the Ukraine international will not require surgery”.
Mykolenko now has under seven weeks to be fit in time for Ukraine’s opening game of the 2024 European Championship. Ukraine qualified for the tournament after beating Bosnia & Herzegovina and then Iceland in a play-off semi-final and final — both games in which Mykolenko played 90 minutes — last month and will face Romania, Slovakia and Belgium in Group E.
This season, Mykolenko has featured on 34 occasions this season for Everton and scored two goals, with the club 15th in the Premier League following a number of points deductions.
In November, Everton were deducted 10 points for breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). However, this was reduced to six points following a successful appeal. Earlier this month, they were given a further two-point deduction for another breach of PSR rules.
Sean Dyche’s side are next in action this Friday at Luton Town.
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(Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)
