In a rare piece of good news on the injury front for David Moyes, defender Sylvain Distin has returned to full training after a month and a halfs absence. A hamstring injury aggravated in their Europa Cup win against AEK Athens has kept the 32 year-old out ever since and a return to training is one step on the way back to first team action. However, he is determined not to be rushed back to soon.

"I started training on Monday," he said, ""I don't think it's the longest injury I've had in my career but it's very frustrating. I'm not really looking at one fixture because the first two weeks after my injury I thought it would keep me away for another week or a couple of weeks - I will just try my best to be fit and ready as quick as possible.”

Another defender could be on his way out of Merseyside. Australian international Lucas Neill is reportedly close to a move to Turkish side Galatasaray. The 31 year-old has not completed a season at Goodison Park but it seems that the move will happen. Neill said "I think I'll be joining up and I'm looking forward to joining my new team-mates on Sunday. I'm now delighted I'll be joining a massive European club with great ambitions for the season.”

Given that he arrived on a free transfer, the rumoured £750,000 fee is a decent piece of business by Everton