Five options available to Moyes in response to Mykolenko fitness concerns

As players start to return from international action, attention can firmly return to the Premier League after a break that came at a frustrating time for Everton.

- By JOE THOMAS

Three wins in a week, particularly the feelgood, attacking adventure at Wolves led by Jack Grealish, meant the Blues entered the first interlude of the season in positive fashion for the first time in years.

One of the biggest challenges for David Moyes will have been to have kept that momentum going among those who remained at Finch Farm and to now rekindle it within those who departed for action overseas.

Another will be to work out precisely what to do in an area where the squad has struggled in the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign - left back.

After missing the first two matches, Vitalii Mykolenko was then withdrawn from contention for Ukraine over concerns about his condition.

The fortnight break may have helped him in that battle but given the number of injuries he has sustained in the past 18 months, Moyes cannot continue to work on the basis he will always be available.

So what are his alternative options heading into a busy few months?

ADAM AZNOU

This is an issue that Moyes was attuned to through the summer, and some work was undertaken to address it.

The challenge was his squad required such a dramatic rebuild that covering every base was a near-impossible task.

In Aznou, the long-term solution of this problem may well have been solved.

The teenager, signed from Bayern Munich, is a Morocco international raised through the famed Barcelona academy La Masia and so arrives on Merseyside with a significant pedigree.

Injuries meant he was unavailable to cover Mykolenko at the start of the season though 81 minutes for the Under-21s just before the international break point to progress on that front.

The question for Moyes is to what extent he can rely on Aznou as a first team option this year.