Jake can be a man in middle

DAVID Moyes believes that Jake O'Brien can move back into the heart of Everton's defence if required as he hailed Iliman Ndiaye for easing the burden on his team’s goal-shy strikers.

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

With Jarrad Branthwaite - who hasn't played all season - now facing a prolonged period on the sidelines after undergoing an operation on a hamstring injury this week, there has been talk among the Blues fanbase of the prospect of O'Brien, who has mostly been playing at right-back since Moyes brought him into the side, moving back into his natural centre-back position.

Asked in his pre-match press conference to preview Everton's home game with Tottenham Hotspur whether the Republic of Ireland international could revert to centre-back, Moyes said:

“Yes, absolutely. We gave him a run at centre-back at the end of last season.

“He's had a couple of games and he did very well. He is a centre-back, but he is doing a very good job for us at right-back in the main, he needs to keep his levels up, like we all do.”