All posts by h716a5.icu

Just over eighteen months ago, Ashwell Prince was forced to be born again. Not as Christian, although he is a religious man, but as a cricketer

Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2010Just over eighteen months ago, Ashwell Prince was forced to be born again. Not as Christian, although he is a religious man, but as a cricketer. He had been recalled to the South African squad, after injury and the explosion of JP Duminy against Australia kept him out of the side, in an unfamiliar position. Prince, who for his entire cricketing career had been a middle order man, was tasked with opening the batting.”For 15 years I had been playing in the middle order and that was what I knew,” Prince told ESPNcricnfo. “When I was told I had to open it was like starting my career again.” He made no secret of his unhappiness at being made to play out of position but decided that if that was the only way he would be able to play international cricket, he would try to make the most of it.Prince’s opening debut was nothing short of kingly. He scored 150 against Australia in March 2009 in Cape Town and the selectors, who had dropped Neil McKenzie to make room for Prince, were vindicated for their decision. A pauper’s run followed, where Prince played five more innings as an opener, four against England and one against India. He managed to score just 97 runs and looked technically inept. “At times I had difficulty knowing when to attack and to when to defend,” he admitted.In Kolkata, in February, the cricketing gods smiled on Prince and he was allowed to return to the middle order. Alviro Petersen took his place at the top, ending a six match stint which saw Prince average 27.44. Prince has since played three more Tests, against the West Indies, where he batted in the middle order and scored 160 runs. His overall average as a middle order player is a healthy 45.92 and that is where he is likely to stay.Prince left for the United Arab Emirates on Monday night, to join up with the South African team for their two-Test series against Pakistan, in a rich vein of form. He scored three hundreds in three consecutive SuperSport Series matches for the Warriors and says the peace of mind that comes with being assured of his place in the middle order has helped. “Mental preparations are more important to me than physical ones. I am not the kind of guy who wants to go out and hit hundreds of balls, so I work more on mindset.”Prince was tasked with the captaincy duties for the Warriors as well, as regular skipper Davy Jacobs was injured, and used the role as inspiration for his performances. “The team did really well in the Champions League and I wanted them to translate that form into the domestic game. I was the captain and made sure I led from the front. From a personal perspective I did not want to slack off,” said Prince.The Warriors were not able to carry their momentum into the first-class game and did not win one of their four matches. They drew three games and lost one to stay rooted to the bottom of the log, 22.82 points behind the fifth-placed Knights. Prince was the last soldier standing after he spent close to five hours scoring 144 against the Titans, almost six hours and 206 balls for his 123 against the Dolphins and hit 134 against the Lions. All three times, he was required to dig deep and display big-match temperament, something he is mastering with every game: “I expect a certain level of performance from myself, and I am working on it every match.”It’s his serene attitude that South Africa will welcome. Their recently completed one-day series triumph over Pakistan had its moments of frenzy, which saw catches dropped and an unusual amount of misfields. Prince noticed a certain “panic” in the side but he expects things to settle down, despite the unfamiliarity of the conditions and the level of focus on the one-day game because of the looming World Cup.”The World Cup is still a while away, so now we have to refocus on the Tests. We expect that the pitches will be very slow and not like the fast bouncy tracks we are used to. Getting the number one spot back is important to us.” Even though Pakistan are have only won two out of their last six tests and have batting woes that run deep Prince thinks they are still a credible team in the longest format of the game, “They have good individuals on paper and when they play well, we know they can still beat anyone. We can’t take them for granted.”Prince said the “good culture” of the team will make it easy for him and Mark Boucher to slip back into the squad, despite not being around for the limited-overs section of the tour. “Everyone in the side knows their role well and there’s good team spirit. For me, who has been around for a while, it feels no different coming back in.”With all the good vibrations, is he concerned about losing his spot to someone like Duminy again? “There is always pressure to perform, whether it’s coming from other players or myself. I understand what I need to do to keep my place in the side and I am going to go out and do it.”

Rangers suffered late heartbreak in the Europa League on Thursday night as they lost 1-0 in the first-leg of their semi-final clash.

Gio van Bronckhorst’s men travelled away from Ibrox and set-up to make it difficult for their opponents and they did exactly that as they limited the opposition to one big opportunity.

The best chance of the match fell to Christopher Nkunku and the Frenchman somehow managed to fire the ball high and wide with the goal at his mercy after dribbling past Allan McGregor inside the box.

Leipzig then found the winning goal from half a chance, at best, as Angelino fired in a volley on the full from the edge of the box in the final 10 minutes.

As part of the defensive, counter-attacking, set-up, van Bronckhorst opted for pace at the top end of the pitch with a front two of Ryan Kent and Scott Wright. It was the latter’s second start in the Europa League this season and his performance explained why he has been rarely used throughout the campaign as he let the head coach down badly.

The Scot was given a huge opportunity to prove that he can play a big role in winning major silverware for Rangers this season and failed to make the most of it. He struggled on and off the ball as he looked uncomfortable playing as a makeshift centre-forward alongside Kent.

Out of possession, he did very little. As per SofaScore, he lost four of his seven individual duels and 100% of his aerial battles. He made zero clearances, blocks and interceptions and completed one tackle in the match as he did little to help out his teammates on the defensive side of the game.

On the ball, he offered almost nothing. He had fewer touches (31) than Allan McGregor (41) and lost possession 15 times. He also completed just eight of his 16 attempted passes (50%) and did not create a single chance or register a shot on target in 69 minutes on the pitch as he was unable to cause the Leipzig defence many problems to deal with.

Overall, Wright did not do enough at both sides of the game and van Bronckhorst will surely be feeling let down by the attacker’s display. This performance may force the Dutch coach to consider whether he is the right choice to start at Ibrox in the second leg next week.

AND in other news, Wilson masterclass: Rangers must brutally axe 26 y/o dud who’s an “all-round shambles”…

Wolves could sign exciting attacker Rafa Silva in the summer window as ‘concrete’ news emerges.

The Lowdown: Silva shines in his homeland

The 28-year-old is enjoying a magnificent season for the Portuguese giants, proving to be a relentless source of end product in the Primeira Liga.

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Silva has eight goals and 15 assists in the competition in 2021/22, also notching one apiece in the Champions League, with Benfica eventually knocked out by Liverpool.

Grabbing 18 assists in total across all cups and leagues, he’s certainly impressing.

Although the winger’s contract doesn’t expire until 2024, it could be that a big-money offer turns Benfica’s head this summer, with Jeunesfooteux recently claiming he could cost as much as €50 million (£42m).

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The Latest: Wolves offer on the cards…

According to A Bola [via Sport Witness], Wolves are the ‘most concrete’ club when it comes to wanting to sign Silva, in what is an exciting update.

A ‘concrete proposal’ could even arrive in the near future, further suggesting that there is genuine interest in him from the Molineux outfit, and by extension their manager Bruno Lage.

The Verdict: Statement signing

Silva would feel like a significant signing by Wolves, at a time when Lage is looking to turn his team into both a domestic and European force.

The Benfica hero’s aforementioned numbers this season prove how relentless he is in the final third, while 25 caps for an extremely gifted Portugal squad is no mean feat either.

He’s also been described as one of Portugal’s array of ‘phenomenal attacking talent’ in the past (Alex Goncalves, Portuguese football journalist and founder of TugaScout) – a tag he’s still living up to now going by his electric form.

Wolves haven’t always been the Premier League’s most entertaining side this season, scoring just 33 goals in 32 matches, but Silva could provide the ammunition that makes them more of an attacking threat.

In other news, Wolves are keen on signing a player who shone at the last World Cup. Read more here.

Andrew Strauss praised Alastair Cook’s double-century as one of the greatest innings in Ashes history, as England closed out the first Test with a monumental batting performance on the final day at the Gabba

Andrew Miller at the Gabba29-Nov-2010Andrew Strauss praised Alastair Cook’s double-century as one of the greatest innings in Ashes history, as England closed out the first Test with a monumental batting performance on the final day at the Gabba. In front of a paltry crowd of 7088 that reflected the dispirited nature of Australia’s cricketers, Cook trumped his opening stand of 188 with Strauss by adding an unbeaten 329 for the second wicket with Jonathan Trott, to finish unbeaten on 235 out of a massive team total of 517 for 1 declared.All told, Cook batted for almost 15-and-a-half hours in the course of the match, including a 10-and-a-half hour epic in the second innings. In so doing he became only the sixth English double-centurion in Tests in Australia, and the first since Paul Collingwood made 206 at Adelaide in 2006. Wally Hammond, on three occasions, and RE Foster, who made 287 in 1903, are the only other individuals to have achieved such a feat, but Strauss believed his team-mate deserved to be bracketed alongside them.”I’m not great on cricketing history, but you’d be hard-pressed to think of a better innings in Australia,” said Strauss. “It must be a long time ago that a player batted as well as Cooky did, with the concentration to see it through for such a long time. It’s one of the really special innings from an England player.”A host of records tumbled in the course of the day, including Donald Bradman’s highest score of 226 at the Gabba, and the highest partnership for any England wicket in Australia. But all that mattered to England at the close was that they had rescued the Test from a precarious situation at the close of the third day, having conceded a first-innings deficit of 221 following a 307-run stand between Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin.”It’s just great we came back into the game, managed to get a draw and finished so strongly,” said Strauss. “There’s not a long turnaround before Adelaide and both sets of players will be keen to come out strong on the first morning. Everyone talks about how important the first Test is against Australia in Brisbane, so to get through that unscathed from the position we were in is a great effort, although clearly we would’ve wanted to win the game.”Cook, for his part, was simply focussed on extending his stay for as long as possible. “We didn’t know about the records, so Trotty and I might have to start digging to see what we have achieved,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic couple of days. The pitch was amazing to bat on and got better and better, but you still have to go and get them.”With a quick turnaround ahead of Adelaide, and Australia already telegraphing changes to their starting line-up by drafting in two extra pacemen in Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris, England have plenty reason to believe they’ve got their opponents on the ropes. “It’s all this momentum chat again,” said Strauss. “I don’t know who takes the momentum, [but] we take a huge amount.”We did some very good things with the ball – some of our bowlers weren’t rewarded for quite how well they bowled – but also the resilience to come back into the game. We were in a pretty dire position after day three, so it speaks volumes for the characters of Cooky and Trotty. We’ve proved over a while we’re a hard side to beat and it gives us more confidence.”Cook’s confidence could hardly be higher following his indomitable efforts, and yet it wasn’t so long ago that he was scratching around at the top of England’s order, and restricted to 100 runs in home Tests last summer before saving his immediate place in the side with a gutsy century against Pakistan at The Oval.”It’s cricket,” he said, by way of explanation. “It’s amazing how quickly it turns round. If you keep working at the right things and keep believing you’re a good player, you get your results. The dark days against Pakistan make these extra special. The hundred at The Oval was a great confidence [boost] and to back it up here is very pleasing.”Had Cook been permitted to bat through to the close, there would have been the prospect of an even bigger innings, but Strauss believed that it was only right to get Australia back into the field to face an awkward final session against a well-rested bowling attack. “Even though there was a very small chance of forcing a win, it was worth trying,” he said. “To get a few wickets on the way would’ve been a bit of a psychological blow. If there was even an outside chance of forcing a win, we should try and do it.Although the early wicket of Simon Katich gave them the prospect of further breakthroughs, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson took Australia through to 107 for 1 at the close. “It was very flat on the fifth day and we weren’t a force much with the ball but we’re happy with where we are and we look forward to Adelaide. Hopefully we can win the toss in Adelaide and we’ll see how things progress from there.”However, just as England insisted that their impressive start to the tour would count for nothing come the Test series, so Cook was quick to point out that his success at the Gabba was similarly in the past. “We start quickly on Friday so hopefully I can start again in Adelaide,” he said. “I’ve not changed a huge amount technically. A bit between the second and third Tests against Pakistan, I changed a bit to what I’d been doing before, but not a huge amount and it just shows what a mental game opening is.”

Pundit Gabby Agbonlahor believes Leeds United should be punished after what’s happened at Elland Road this week, Football Insider report.  

The Lowdown: Paper everywhere

Leeds organised a pre-game mosaic for fans against Manchester City, with sheets of paper left on seats in the east stand for supporters to hold up ahead of kick-off.

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However, once the game got underway and the Whites fell behind, fans were quick to throw sheets at visiting players, especially Jack Grealish in the second half, with Gary Neville lambasting the Elland Road faithful during Sky Sports’ coverage.

Even Leeds star Raphinha had some thrown his way when preparing to take a corner, with Jesse Marsch’s side eventually losing 4-0.

The Latest: Agbonlahor’s comments

Agbonlahor, who contributes for Sky Sports, was talking to FI regarding the antics on the weekend. He labelled it as ‘very strange behaviour’ and feels the club ‘should be punished’ as a result.

“It doesn’t matter that it’s only paper, they were putting the players off.

“It came to the stage where they throwing it at Raphinha, their own player, and he was having an argument with his own fans.

“It’s very strange behaviour and it’s very strange from the stewards and the police to not stop it. It came to a stage where there was loads on the pitch.

“If they get away with throwing paper then what’s next? Do they put something inside the paper and throw it?

“You can’t say it’s not a problem. I think they should be punished for that to stop them doing it again.”

The Verdict: No more paper…

Elland Road doesn’t need regular pre-game mosaics to provide an atmosphere, so we feel as if Leeds chiefs should stay away from the paper sheets going forward.

Leeds supporters regularly use scarves to create a brilliant visual atmosphere, something that would work better and keep the club out of any possible trouble with the FA.

It wouldn’t be a shock if the club were contacted regarding Saturday’s events, but hopefully, we won’t see any more paper in the club’s final two home games with Chelsea and Brighton.

In other news: Leeds want to sign ‘X-factor’ attacker despite possible relegation.

Canada’s preparation for the World Cup has been hampered by a delay in Indian visas for four key players in their squad

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2011Canada’s preparation for the World Cup has been hampered by a delay in Indian visas for four key players in their squad.Batsman Rizwan Cheema, allrounder Umar Bhatti, paceman Khurram Chohan and back-up keeper Hamza Tariq – all Pakistan-born – were all ruled out of Canada’s recent pre-tournament warm-up in India and Ranjit Saini, the Cricket Canada president, told Pakistan’s Daily Mail the problems have damaged the team.”[We have been] waiting to have visas processed for several months now,” he said. “Canada took a pre-World Cup preparatory visit to India in November and the visas were applied for before that.”We couldn’t take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered. [It’s] a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general. We are making efforts but so far there is no outcome. They are the star players of our team, Rizwan Cheema was in the IPL auction.”Saini confirmed that Canada will take a full-strength to Bangladesh in February for the official World Cup warm-up matches and the opening ceremony before proceeding to Colombo for their opening fixture, against Sri Lanka. The team is currently competing in the Caribbean T20, where they won a stirring encounter with England domestic Twenty20 Champions Hampshire.They have just two days from returning from that tournament before they head off to Dubai to prepare for the World Cup and Saini is hoping the visas can be sorted by then.”The problem is that if this is not resolved in next week or so, the team will be on the move and players can’t come back to Canada for visa processing. The short window of opportunity is now causing the issue to become a major problem.”

Journalist Jacque Talbot has revealed that Newcastle United have now been ‘offered’ the chance to sign Ismaila Sarr in the summer.

The Lowdown: Injury woes

Sarr has suffered from a few injury problems this season, which has seen him only manage make 21 appearances in total over all competitions.

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Watford have only managed to win 12 goals in 30 appearances and ended Liverpool’s unbeaten run.

The Latest: Newcastle ‘offered’

Taking to Twitter, Talbot revealed that the St. James’ Park faithful have now been ‘offered’ the chance to sign Sarr this summer, although the Hornets want around £40m if they are to let him go:

“Newcastle have been offered Watford’s Ismaila Sarr. Representatives met with club in London. Told his side would want about £40m. Deal makes sense but striker and centre-back (right-sided) are #nufc priority.”

The Verdict: Too expensive

Given that he currently holds a market value of £24.3m, £40m does seem a bit excessive for Sarr, especially if Watford are relegated down to the Championship.

The North East club will be cautious of the injury problems he has had, and the five goals and two assists that he has managed in the top flight so far this term (Transfermarkt) is not exactly prolific to justify the high price tag.

If they could get him for a much cheaper price, given his Premier League experience and the fact that he is only 24 years of age, it could well be a good signing for the Tyneside outfit, but at £40m they should really be looking elsewhere for now.

In other news, find out which Magpies star is now ‘close’ to returning from injury here!

Round-up of the first day’s play in the second round of matches in the Faysal bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2011Punjab finished firmly on top after the first day of their match against Sind at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, reaching 347 for 3 with each of their top four batsmen crossing fifty. The previous match at the ground had finished in three days with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province scoring 111 and 89 in their two innings, but the batsmen enjoyed the wicket on Saturday. Imran Farhat scored 75 at the top, and was involved in a 112-run opening partnership with captain Taufeeq Umar, who scored 50. The openers were out in quick succession, but Azhar Ali and Mohammad Ayub added 335. Azhar was out for 92, but Ayub completed his century, finishing on 117 not out at stumps.Half-centuries from Saeed Anwar junior, Gulraiz Sadaf and Rizwan Haider helped Baluchistan recover from a poor start to 320 for 9, against Federal Areas on the first day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Seamer Nasrullah Khan struck early for Federal Areas, before Shoaib Khan junior and Anwar junior put together 60 for the second wicket. Shoaib was out for 43, and three wickets fell quickly, leaving Baluchistan 88 for 5. Anwar junior and Sadaf stitched together a 114-run stand, with Anwar junior scoring 95 and Sadaf 68. Haider kept the momentum going with his 61 and Baluchistan ended the day in a decent position, considering the last game to be played at the ground was a fairly low-scoring affair.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Group B game between India and West Indies in Chennai

The Preview by Sidharth Monga19-Mar-2011Match FactsMarch 20, Chennai
Start time 1430 hours (0900 GMT)Chennai will provide Harbhajan Singh with the best conditions to pick up wickets•Getty ImagesThe Big PictureNo wonder India play so much cricket without seeming to overly mind it. When MS Dhoni walks out for the toss for this game, it will have been more than a week since they last played in the World Cup. The off days for the Indian team, however, have been days of plenty of buzz and activity for the Indian cricketing public and media. Dhoni has suddenly gone from being Midas to moron for getting Ashish Nehra to bowl the final over; Yusuf Pathan is no longer a good choice to bat in batting Powerplay; heated meetings between selectors, board secretary and captain have been reported and denied ; the moon’s proximity to the earth has had its say; the next coach has become a topic of discussion; UDRS blunders and Sachin Tendulkar’s impending 100th hundred have been overshadowed; everything that can be debated, even those that cannot be, have been debated.If you have been watching news channels in India, or reading news publications, doom is not too far. Which is why the players have been asked to stay far away. Which is why it is a good thing that they are back on the field where they can sort out their team combination for the knockouts, and there are issues bothering them. Piyush Chawla’s inclusion in the XV, always a bit inexplicable, has so far been exposed as a mistake, a gamble gone wrong, which reduces India’s options if they feel that either of Munaf Patel or Nehra is out of form.And Virat Kohli – this will sound harsh on a young man in the form of his life – has hurt the team balance a bit, forcing Suresh Raina out, who is more suited at the slog end and is a pretty canny part-time offspinner. For this game, though, India might not have to make a choice, for Virender Sehwag is down with an allergic reaction to a painkiller injection.India’s opponents are now assured of a place in the knockouts, but the game is just as big for them. Bangladesh are the only Test team West Indies have beaten in an ODI since June 28, 2009, which hurts them bad. Also painful will be how they didn’t trust themselves to play normal cricket and finish a middling chase against England after the explosive start by Chris Gayle. They will dearly love to end that unflattering streak, and in the process finish at No. 2 in Group B, thus avoiding the best two sides from Group A in the quarter-final.If it provides some comfort, the previous major team West Indies beat was India, in Jamaica, through aggressive bowling. They will rate their chances because they are up against a side that is under pressure, no matter how much it avoids the media and the public. A side that will have done really well if it plays uninhibited, free-flowing cricket. West Indies might think the iron is hot.Chennai is certainly hot, and its spinner-friendly track and reverse-friendly square have provided the two matches of the tournament so far. The World Cup will want to bid it a fitting farewell before it moves to the flatter, more predictable surfaces.Form guide(completed matches, most recent first)
India LWWTW
West Indies LWWWLWatch out for…Chris Gayle has to be hurting. In a chase of 244, he left his side at 58 for 1 in the seventh over, but the rest still managed to fall 18 short. Will he go back to reining himself in and playing through the innings? Will he decide to make Sunday his day and his day alone, and go swinging?Sides have decided the best way to beat India, at least when they are on the field, is to play Harbhajan Singh out and not give him wickets. Hence an economy-rate of 4.41, but only five wickets. At times it works for India, producing more wicket-taking opportunities for the other bowlers that the batsmen feel compelled to attack. In this World Cup, it has worked for the batsmen. Chennai, though, will be Harbhajan’s best chance of taking wickets: a turning pitch, and a fair sprinkling of left-hand batsmen.Team newsR Ashwin, through all indicators, seems to the be the man India want the world to see as little of as possible before the big matches. Is a match that determines whether they face New Zealand or Sri Lanka in the quarter-final big enough?Sehwag is a big doubt. “Viru has got an allergic reaction in his right knee, so we will take that call either in the evening or on the morning of the game,” Dhoni said.India (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 & 11 two out of Ashish Nehra, R Ashwin and Munaf PatelLeaving Shivnarine Chanderpaul was a brave move on paper, but it did backfire on West Indies when they missed one batsman who would take the responsibility and anchor the chase on a difficult track. Do they bring him back? If they do, that will mean dropping either one of the specialist batsmen or one out of Andre Russell and Devendra Bishoo, both of whom had a superb game against England. Right now, Ramnaresh Sarwan seems to be the most disposable member of the XI that lost to England.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan/Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt.), 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo.Expect another baked turner with a hard square that should facilitate reverse-swing. For those looking for respite from the Chennai heat, the following is not good news. Chance of precipitation on Sunday: 0%.Stats and trivia Legspinner Bishoo took three wickets on his debut in Chennai. Twenty three years ago, a legspinner in a similar mould, took 16 wickets on his Test debut, again in Chennai. West Indies then were at the receiving end of Narendra Hirwani.Everybody knows Sachin Tendulkar is one short of reaching 100 international hundreds, but he is also just 47 short of 18,000 ODI runs.The World Cup head-to-head between the teams is tied at three and three. Quotes”It is a big learning curve and hopefully we won’t repeat the same mistakes that have happened so far. We are human beings, we are always supposed to commit mistakes. Hopefully the interval between two will be long.”

Everton will travel down south this evening to take on Watford and despite the boost that Watford are already relegated from the Premier League, there has been a huge blow to Frank Lampard’s relegation battle.

What’s the latest?

The Toffees boss took to his pre-match press conference to confirm that Yerry Mina will not be available for selection following a small calf injury and will likely not feature until the last game of the season.

When asked about Mina’s availability Lampard told the press (via Liverpool Echo):

“Yerry’s not, he’s got a small injury in his calf so he won’t be playing in this game.

“We’re probably looking towards the last game Yerry could be in contention for.”

Lampard will be gutted

This will surely be hugely frustrating for the team and Lampard will likely be gutted to lose one of his best centre-backs ahead of the final hurdle of their relegation battle considering they have begun to pick up some momentum and crucial points in the Premier League since Mina’s return.

Everton have picked up seven points in the last three games that the defender has been involved in over their last five games, winning two and drawing one, so his return to the team and involvement has clearly had a hugely positive impact, something Lampard will now have to work without.

In fact, the Colombian has been involved in eight of Everton’s ten wins this season further proving that having him in the team makes a massive difference to the side’s ability to take points from their opponents.

On top of this blow to the backline, the former Chelsea boss is also without Ben Godfrey who is working to recover and get his fitness back on track ahead of the end of the season following a thigh injury, so Lampard will need to lean on Michael Keane and Mason Holgate for the foreseeable.

With that being said, there are now only four games to go for the Toffees and four opportunities for the side to pick up as many points as they can ahead of the end of the season to seal their fate and potentially survive in the Premier League.

AND in other news: Everton now plot bid for “red-hot” £17m sensation, just imagine him and Doucoure