Everton confirm that Fabian Delph ‘will definitely miss’ Saturday’s meeting with Chelsea due to a ‘hamstring injury’. The 30-year-old has made 10 appearances in all competitions since joining over the summer from Manchester City, but he hasn’t put on an Everton shirt for more than a calendar month.
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Delph’s last outing for the Toffees came in their 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur (November 3). He picked up an injury at the end of the stalemate and was a late absentee in Everton’s 2-1 win over Southampton (November 9), but the England international was meant to have recovered during the international break.
Since the Saints victory, Delph has missed another three Premier League games – their 2-0 defeat to Norwich City (November 23), 2-1 defeat to Leicester City (December 1), 5-2 defeat to Liverpool (December 4) – and it remains to be seen when he’ll return.
Before his sacking, Marco Silva had an injury crisis in the engine room with Jean-Philippe Gbamin (thigh), Andre Gomes (ankle) and Delph (hamstring) all out of action in the last few weeks. Morgan Schneiderlin has recently recovered from a knock too, but his lack of match fitness forced Silva to name Tom Davies alongside Gylfi Sigurdsson in midfield against Liverpool.