Everton: James Garner injury return date revealed | OneFootball

Everton’s James Garner may not return from injury until early February, with Frank Lampard sweating on the fitness of his midfield options at Goodison Park, according to Ben Dinnery.

The midfielder was substituted off in the Toffees’ 4-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup in November, as per BBC Sport.

Everton injury news – James Garner

According to the Liverpool Echo, Garner has suffered a back injury, which could potentially rule him out of action for two months.

The same source states that the midfielder’s absence in the Toffees’ Premier League clash with Bournemouth before the World Cup break was initially described as a knock.

But the resulting back injury has meant that the former Manchester United starlet has missed the club’s mid-season tour to Australia during the Premier League’s break, with a return to action at the end of January looking like the best possible solution for the £9m summer signing (as per BBC Sport).

And Dinnery believes that despite the initial prognosis suggesting a short injury lay-off, the problem now seems to be more severe than initially thought.

What has Dinnery said about Garner?

Dinnery told GIVEMESPORT: “So, this was an update from Frank Lampard again, [Garner suffered] an injury picked up in the Carabao Cup and missed out on game week 16. Subsequently, he didn’t travel on the club’s mid-season tour of Australia. The initial sort of prognosis was relatively okay, but subsequent evaluations and testaments reveal that it’s probably going to be towards maybe the end of January or even early February before Garner is back in contention.”

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What next for Garner?

Despite signing for Lampard’s side towards the end of the summer window, Garner has found Premier League opportunities hard to come by so far this season.

The 21-year-old has played in just 136 minutes of Premier League action across six appearances this season according to Transfermarkt, suggesting that the midfielder may have struggled to adapt to life at Goodison Park, after having taken part in 49 games for Nottingham Forest last season, according to the same stats provider.

Lampard has generally preferred to play a midfield trio of Alex Iwobi, Amadou Onana and Idrissa Gana Gueye so far this campaign, but Garner’s back injury will have only set him back further in his bid to become a first-team regular for the Merseyside club.

Therefore, it looks as though the Birkenhead-born midfielder will have to wait at least two months until he may get an opportunity to stake his claim to be in the club’s first-choice midfield trio, as the side looks to drag themselves from the current relegation battle they find themselves in.