David Moyes has give an unusually clear indication of his injury issues as the club prepares for the massive game against Lyon at the London Stadium tomorrow.
The manager invariably keeps things entirely under wraps ahead of games but not this time as the squad look forward to one of its biggest games ever.
Moyes offered an update on the fitness statuses of full-backs Ben Johnson – absent from the matchday squad against the Toffees – and Vladimír Coufal,
The Czech of course underwent successful surgery on a groin injury in February, but was subsequently named on the bench at the weekend.
Jarrod Bowen has no problems and looks certain to be involved after scoring a winning vital winning goal against Everton and the odds may well be be swinging towards a Johnson involvement.
It was a refreshing update from the manager who gave his news at the pre-match presser when he declared: “”Jarrod Bowen’s trained. He seems fine.
“He was involved in the game [at the weekend] and he’s not picked up any other injuries, so I’m expecting Jarrod to be fine.
“Ben Johnson’s trained so I’m hoping that he will be okay.
“Vladimír [Coufal] we’ve brought back. We’re still not totally convinced he’s 100 per cent [fit], Vladimír, so he might just need a bit more time.
“[Manuel] Lanzini is suspended [for the first leg] but he has trained a little bit today for the first time [since he was involved in a car accident last week].
“We’re beginning to get one or two back which will be helpful, but at the moment we seem to be okay.”
Moyes is hoping that Bowen – who is currently in the midst of his finest top-level season to date, with 13 goals and eleven assists in 40 appearances in all competitions – could be a match-winner against Lyon over the two legs.
The manager continued: “I’m not worried about his fitness, but when you’ve been out for five or six weeks, sometimes your first game is okay – it’s the one or two games after which can be the harder ones. I’m hoping he’ll be fine in everything he does.
“It’s really good we’ve got him back because he got us a goal on Sunday and he’s played a huge part. I said at the weekend: ‘Who knows if he’d have been in the England squad or not for the games just gone?’
“It’s really sad that he missed the opportunity to find out if he would have been, but overall he’s been really good for us.
“He offers us width, which is where he’s been in his career. He’s played off the side, but he’s also been someone who can score goals and to have players in those areas…
“In days gone by, the No9s were always the key goalscorers. Nowadays, you can get people scoring goals from inside-left, inside-right, so Jarrod gives us that.
“More importantly for us, he’s improved as an all-round footballer, and generally his positioning and the job he does for the team has greatly improved.
“He’s taken time coming from the Championship to grow into a Premier League player, but I’ve got to say his contribution this year – and last year – has been excellent.
“Last year he had quite a few goals, got a few assists, and he’s doing it again this year which is really good for us.”
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