England Premier League Media

Accrington have signed Everton defender James McCarten on a short-term loan.

The 19-year-old reserve team player completed the move to the Crown Ground after Accrington’s temporary transfer embargo was lifted.

The embargo was in place after a delay in paying around 30,000 to HM Revenue and Customs.

Boss John Coleman told BBC Radio Lancashire. “He’s good in the air. He’s a good talker and will add competition for places.”

McCarten signed his first professional deal at Goodison Park in 2008 after a number of impressive performances at the club’s academy.

He told the club website: “I’ve been waiting around for a couple of weeks wanting to sign.

“I trained here a few weeks ago but wasn’t allowed to play in the games so I went back to Everton.

“Now the embargo has been lifted I’m really happy to come here and try to get some games.”

McCarten could make his Accrington debut against Barnet on Saturday.

Premier League footballer Steven Pienaar has been banned from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty to drinking and driving.

The Everton midfielder was pulled over by Merseyside Police in the early hours of 21 February – the day after the club’s 3-1 win over Manchester United.

The South Africa player was found to be nearly twice the legal limit when breath-tested by officers in Liverpool.

Pienaar, 27, was fined 1,000 by Liverpool magistrates.

He was also ordered to pay a further 100 fine for failing to comply with a traffic signal.

The case was originally listed to appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Driving course

But Pienaar’s decision to plead guilty meant he was dealt with on Monday, a court official said.

The South Africa international was pulled over hours after Everton’s Premier League victory at Goodison Park.

Merseyside Police found he had 61 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

His year-long driving disqualification could be reduced by three months if he completes a course before 7 October.

Pienaar was also ordered to pay 100 in costs.

He was brought to Goodison Park on loan in the summer of 2007 and signed for 2.05m when he permanently left his former club, Borussia Dortmund in April 2008.

Everton FC declined to comment.

Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta says he was delighted see the Toffees return to form following their 5-1 win over Hull City on Sunday.

“We played some terrific football today,” Arteta told BBC Radio Merseyside after securing the Blues’ sixth successive league win at home.

“We wanted to get back from both defeats last week and we have. We scored a few goals and I’m delighted.

“I’ve been out for a long time and I was expected to score a few goals.”

Everton sit in eighth place and have now closed the gap on the Europa League places.

The Spaniard praised defender John Heitinga who played along side him in midfield during the victory over the Tigers at Goodison Park.

“I had more freedom today to go forward as we were playing Johnny behind me. So the manager wanted me to go forward and play closer to the strikers and have more chances and influence in attack,” he said.

“I tried to do that and I scored a few, created a few chances for the lads and we scored a few goals.

“He [Heitinga] is comfortable on the ball and he can hit long passes as well and he is defensively really comfortable. That gives me Steven Pienaar and Jack Rodwell when he came on me freedom to run up and get forward.”

The midfielder, who only returned to action last month following a cruciate ligament injury, was also pleased defender Phil Jagielka started his first game of the season following a similar knee problem.

“I’m so happy for Jags to get back into the team. I think he played really well after being out for so long with injuries.”

Everton boss David Moyes has resigned himself to United States star Landon Donovan returning to LA Galaxy after Saturday’s game against Birmingham.

The 27-year-old forward has been on loan at Everton for 10 weeks, but is set to return to America on 15 March.

“We’d like him to stay but it looks like he’s going back,” said Moyes.

“We respect that and don’t have a problem with it. I think we and Landon would be keen but he is here for the Birmingham game next week.”

Donovan has impressed in his short time at Goodison Park, which has coincided in an upturn in fortunes for the Toffees, who have moved up into eighth place in the Premier League table.

“Maybe there is a bit of time to see if anything can be done but, if not, you could see what the supporters thought of him,” said Moyes, following Everton’s 5-1 home win over Hull, with Donovan scoring one of the goals.

Asked whether his appearance off the bench could be his last appearance at Goodison Park, Donovon told BBC Sport: “It could be – we’ll know definitively this week but if it was, it was a nice send-off.

“It is out of my hands, it’s up to the people here and at the Galaxy. – If it works out I’d love to stay, if not it’s been a great ride and I’ll be happy to go back as well.

“I’ve really enjoyed it here if there’s a chance and they want me back here (in the future), I would jump at it.

“I couldn’t have imagined it would go as well when I started, I give a lot of credit to the manager for believing in me and giving me chances and I hope that I’ve given a lot to the club as well.”

On Friday Galaxy coach Bruce Arena responded to reports linking the forward with an extended stay at Goodison Park by saying his club was “not interested”.

Arena said: “Landon will be back here on 15 March, as we have said all along.”

The only hope for Everton appeared to be if the Major League season was delayed, with the start of the season in jeopardy if no labour agreement can be reached during current ongoing talks between League officials and the players’ union.

In that event, Arena conceded: “If we didn’t have a league going on we would certainly entertain the idea of allowing Landon to stay there.”

LA Galaxy’s first match of the season is on 27 March.

Barclays Premier League
Venue: Goodison Park Date: Sunday, 7 March 2010 Kick-off: 1600 GMT
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio Merseyside 95.8FM, full commentary on 5 live sports extra, highlights on Match of the Day 2 & live on Sky Sports 1

Everton’s Phil Jagielka (thigh) and Leon Osman (foot) are doubts, while Tim Cahill could return after missing the last three games with a calf complaint.

James Vaughan and Philippe Senderos will also be assessed, but Louis Saha is ruled out by a thigh injury.

Both Jimmy Bullard and Geovanni are available for Hull, while Stephen Hunt should play despite a foot problem.

Craig Fagan serves a one-game ban, and defender Anthony Gardner (ankle) will be out for at least six weeks.

Everton

Doubtful: Cahill (calf), Jagielka (thigh), Osman (foot), Senderos (knee), Vaughan (knock)

Injured: Fellaini (ankle), Hibbert (groin), Saha (thigh)

Hull

Suspended: Fagan (one match) Doubtful: Hunt (foot), Marney (calf)

Injured: Ashbee (knee), Gardner (ankle)

Away wins have been in short supply for Hull, who have not won on the road for 12 months. The omens ahead of a trip to Goodison are not promising – the Tigers’ solitary win away to Everton came 58 years ago, when wartime rationing was still in place.

Hull’s wretched away form makes this a game Everton simply must win if they are serious about snatching a European spot in May. But after back-to-back home wins against Chelsea and Manchester United, losses at Sporting Lisbon and Tottenham have provided a reality check for David Moyes’ men.

These sides have been heading in opposite directions since Hull won the reverse fixture in November.

Everton have been beaten by only two Premier League clubs since defeat at the KC Stadium, gradually hauling themselves into the top half of the table as their injury crisis has eased.

Victory against Everton took Hull level on points with the Toffees, but a run of one win from their subsequent 13 league games means they begin the weekend third bottom.

Manager Phil Brown must be sorely tempted to deploy fit-again midfielder Jimmy Bullard at Goodison. The former Fulham man has completed 90 minutes only three times this season, with the Tigers unbeaten on each occasion.

Head-to-head

Hull have lost their last three trips to Everton. Their last win at Goodison Park was a 2-0 win in a second tier match on 23 August 1952.

Everton won 4-0 at Hull in a third-round Carling Cup tie in September. However, the Tigers exacted revenge by winning 3-2 in November’s league match at the KC Stadium.

Everton

The Toffees have won their last five league games at Goodison. A sixth successive home win would equal their club record in the Premier League, set between January and March 2006.

Everton have not lost to a club in the bottom half since the 3-2 defeat at Hull on 25 November.

Since losing at the KC Stadium, Everton have only been beaten by two Premier League clubs, Liverpool (twice) and Tottenham.

Hull

The Tigers’ only win in their last 13 league games was the 2-1 success against Manchester City on 6 February.

Hull are one of two sides without a Premier League away win this season, along with Burnley. The Clarets are the only side with a poorer away record than Hull, who have taken four points from 14 games on the road.

Phil Brown’s side have won only one of their last 28 away Premier League games. That was the 1-0 victory at Fulham on 4 March 2009.

Everton

Saha: 15 goals (13 league); Cahill: 6 goals (4 league); Pienaar: 6 goals (3 league)

Hull

Hunt: 6 goals (6 league); Geovanni: 5 goals (3 league)

Referee: Lee Mason

Assistant referees: Mick McDonough & Martin Yerby

Fourth official: Kevin Friend

Everton (L1-2 v Tottenham, a): Howard, Neville, Heitinga, Distin, Baines, Anichebe (Donovan 63), Arteta, Pienaar, Osman (Jagielka 46), Rodwell (Vaughan 81), Yakubu. Subs not used: Nash, Yobo, Bilyaletdinov, Gosling.

Hull (L0-3 v West Ham, a): Myhill; McShane, Mouyokolo, Gardner, Dawson, Fagan, Boateng, Cairney (Altidore 64), Hunt (Barmby 65), Zaki (Olofinjana 65), Vennegoor of Hesselink. Subs not used: Duke, Garcia, Kilbane, Zayatte.

Hull scorers: Hunt 9, Dawson 20, Marney 28

Everton scorers: Zayatte (og) 49, Saha (pen) 65

Everton manager David Moyes’s hopes of extending Landon Donovan’s loan spell at Goodison Park appear to have been dashed by LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena.

Moyes had hoped to keep Donovan beyond the end of his loan, saying: “I am keen to keep Landon and it sounds initially in America that they might say yes.”

But Arena said: “We’re not interested. Landon will be back here on 15 March, as we have said all along.”

Everton’s only hope is that the new Major League Soccer season is delayed.

League officials are in talks with the players’ union about a new labour agreement, and the start of the regular season could be in jeopardy if no deal is reached.

LA Galaxy are due to get their campaign under way on 27 March.

In the event that the league does not start on time, Arena told the LA Galaxy website: “If we didn’t have a league going on we would certainly entertain the idea of allowing Landon to stay there.

“If we have a league, Landon’s going to be playing for the Galaxy.”

However, Arena is expecting Donovan back in Los Angeles in a fortnight’s time and that is sure to prove hard to hear for Moyes.

Donovan has impressed in his short time at Goodison Park, which has coincided in an upturn in fortunes for the Toffees, who have moved up into 10th place in the Premier League table.

The only low point was a bad miss against Tottenham last weekend, a game Everton went on to lose 2-1.

“In the main he has done a really good job for us,” said Moyes. “It is very rare you can bring in someone in January on loan who can make a real difference to you but Landon has.

“But I think his manager at LA Galaxy would say the best World Cup preparation for him would be to start in their team.

“They will be keen to get him back so we will have to be respectful of their wishes. If we can keep him it would be nice but if not I totally understand it.”

Should Donovan return to LA Galaxy as scheduled, it means Sunday’s home match with Hull will be his last at Goodison Park.

Everton captain Phil Neville has praised the influence of defender Phil Jagielka after he returned to the side following a serious knee injury.

Jagielka came on as a substitute in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.

“He was probably a catalyst for that second half performance,” Neville, 33, told BBC Radio Merseyside.

“It’s great to have him back as he is a real voice around the place. He probably only trained 10 or 15 days and that shows what a character he is.”

Everton dropped to 10th place in the Premier League on Sunday following their defeat at White Hart Lane, which means a late charge for fourth place is all but out of the Blues grasp.

But Neville challenged his side to fight for a third consecutive fifth place league finish and continue to play good football until the end of the season.

“With the games we’ve got left and the run in, I think it’s all to play for,” Neville continued.

“I think we have our places to play for as there will be a lot of questions asked of this squad. Can we keep re-producing our good form? It’s up to the players now to answer it.”

Everton manager David Moyes had no complaints with the result after his team crashed out of the Europa League with a 3-0 defeat at Sporting Lisbon.

Moyes’s team lost 4-2 on aggregate after three second-half goals ended Everton’s hopes of winning any silverware this season.

“I am disappointed,” said Moyes. “We did not play well enough on the night to get a result.

“They looked as if they needed it and wanted it more.”

Miguel Veloso, Pedro Mendes and Matias Fernandez scored as Sporting secured a last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid.

“Sporting got a grip early on,” added Moyes. “I thought we had weathered it but we did not cause them enough problems.

“We never really imposed our game on them at any time and because of that allowed them to do what they did.

“I felt if we played we could knock Sporting out but we did not get out of first gear all night.”

Everton arrived in Lisbon with a slender 2-1 lead after conceding a late Veloso penalty at Goodison Park.

“I said the players needed to score a goal so that was always the plan but in all truth the goal lost late on at Goodison was the thing that changed the tie a bit,” said the Goodison boss.

The match saw the return of England defender Phil Jagielka, who had not played since last April following a knee problem.

Jagielka came on as a second-half substitute, replacing the injured Philippe Senderos.

“We got Phil back, which was great. We have been missing him, he will get better,” said Moyes.

“But we are setting standards and when we play like that there are not many positives to come out of it.

“It is a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment, sometimes we have stepped up but not on other occasions, we have been a little bit inconsistent.”

Everton crashed out of the Europa League after being outclassed by Sporting Lisbon in the second leg of their last-32 tie in Portugal.

Miguel Veloso’s close-range strike and Pedro Mendes’s deflected 22-yard shot beat Tim Howard before Matias Fernandez struck in injury-time.

Howard had to deny Joao Moutinho, while a Yannick Djalo free-kick hit the bar.

Everton went close through a curling effort from Steven Pienaar, while Rui Patricio saved from Louis Saha.

But the late goal that Everton conceded in their 2-1 first-leg victory at Goodison Park has ultimately proved costly – ensuring as it did that Sporting approached the second leg with renewed optimism.

Even so, until Fernandez struck right at the death, a goal for the visiting team would have taken the tie to extra-time.

However, in truth Sporting were the superior team and Everton, who lacked ambition until it was far too late, rarely looked like breaching the opposition defence.

It was far from the humiliation that the Toffees suffered on their previous visit to Lisbon – the 5-0 drubbing at Benfica earlier in the competition – but that will be of no consolation to David Moyes, who cut a frustrated figure as he harangued officials during the final minutes of the tie.

The defeat effectively ends any hopes of Everton winning any silverware this season, although there was at least some good news with the return of Phil Jagielka as a second-half substitute after a long-term injury.

Sporting, playing in front of a vocal if far from capacity crowd at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, took just a few minutes to threaten Howard’s goal.

A sweeping move culminated with the impressive Marat Izmailov cutting inside Joseph Yobo before shooting low across goal, forcing a good save from Howard.

With Johnny Heitinga cup-tied and Sylvain Distin suspended, Everton had a new central defensive partnership in Yobo and Philippe Senderos – and the latter was very harshly penalised for a foul on Yannick Djalo.

It would have been tough on Everton if their Portuguese opponents had scored from the subsequent opportunity but Sporting skipper Moutinho saw his brilliant strike rebound off the woodwork, while Tonel missed the rebound.

Sporting’s creative players were too often given too much time on the ball and continued to threaten, with Veloso striking another free-kick and Izmailov striking wide after Everton wasted several chances to clear the ball.

In contrast, Everton offered virtually nothing in the opening 45 minutes, with Landon Donovan an anonymous figure and Saha, on the day of his recall to the France squad, isolated in attack.

The visiting side did have the ball in the net just before the interval when Senderos slid in to convert a deep Leighton Baines free-kick but the defender was penalised for offside.

The low-key start to the second half would have suited Everton as they defended their first-leg advantage, while Pienaar, who like so many of his team-mates saw precious little of the ball, narrowly missed with a curling effort from 25 yards.

Sporting gradually increased the pressure and Howard made an instinctive save from Moutinho but could not prevent Veloso from stabbing the ball home from six yards.

Everton suddenly started to show an urgency that had been previously absent and the tie might have changed if Rui Patricio had not smothered a left-foot strike from Saha.

But Sporting continued to grow the greater threat in attack and former Tottenham, Portsmouth and Rangers midfielder Mendes scored with a low strike that took a helpful deflection.

Sporting secured their last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid when they pounced on the break in the 93rd-minute and Fernandez finished off the move by fortuitously taking the ball around the unlucky Howard.

Europa League
Venue: Estadio Jose Alvalade Date: Thursday 25 February Kick-off: 2005 GMT

Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live and Channel Five

Defender Phil Jagielka has been named in the Everton squad for the return leg of the Europa League round of 32 tie against Sporting Lisbon.

The 27-year-old has not played since injuring cruciate ligaments in his knee against Manchester City last April.

Defender Philippe Senderos also travels having recovered from a back injury.

Tim Cahill (calf), Marouane Fellaini (ankle), John Heitinga (cup-tied), Sylvain Distin (suspended) and Tony Hibbert (hernia) are all unavailable.

Jagielka was due to play in Everton’s reserve fixture against Bolton on Tuesday but the match was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

His return is a timely boost for the Toffees as they step up their efforts to secure European silverware and target a late-season push to snatch a top-four finish in the Premier League.

The versatile defender’s comeback is also good news for England boss Fabio Capello as he prepares for the World Cup this summer.

The Italian has defensive concerns ahead of the tournament in South Africa after it was revealed that Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole would be out for three months following surgery on the ankle he broke against Everton in earlier this month.

The game against Sporting represents the second time Everton have travelled to Lisbon during this inaugural Europe League competition.

Last October an injury-ravaged Toffees team were on the receiving end of a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Benfica in the group stages.

With a stronger squad to choose from this time and holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg, manager David Moyes will be hoping his side can continue their recent run of good form, which has seen them beat both Chelsea and Manchester United.

The aggregate winners of the tie will face either Spanish side Atletico Madrid or Turkish outfit Galatasaray, who drew 1-1 in Madrid in the first leg last week.

Everton squad: Howard, Nash, Turner, Baines, Yobo, Neville, Coleman, Senderos, Jagielka, Duffy, Arteta, Osman, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov, Gosling, Rodwell, Baxter, Donovan, Yakubu, Anichebe, Vaughan, Saha.