Fresh from Europa League disappointment at the hands of Sporting Lisbon, Everton could be forgiven for carrying their woes into the Premier League campaign. But goalkeeper Tim Howard has urged his team-mates to put their European exit behind them.

The American said "We're tremendously disappointed to say the least. It was a game in which we thought we had the ability to go through in Europe and we were excited about those possibilities but we didn't deserve that. When you look across the board in Europe, it's all about the teams who are winners – that's what they do. They win games, they go onto the next one on the front foot, they lose games and they dust themselves off and they go out and get the next result.”

Just as the left side of attack finally looking good for England, suddenly the left side of defence is a problem. Ashley Cole is injured and a doubt for the tournament and Wayne Bridge has opted out. David Moyes believes that Leighton Baines would make a more than adequate replacement for both.

Baines has twice featured in England squads but has yet to make his international debut. At 25, Moyes thinks that he would thrive in the international arena. "Leighton will get spoken about because he will be one of the next in line for the spot," said the Scot, "Probably Leighton and Stephen Warnock are the names that are being thrown in and I am sure the manager of England will have a look at them in the weeks and months leading up to the World Cup.”