David Moyes makes Merseyside derby admission and hints at new Everton injury issues

David Moyes spoke about the fitness of Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko before Everton's trip to Anfield to face Liverpool

David Moyes admits he doesn’t enjoy Merseyside Derbies - but he is hoping to bridge the gap with Liverpool. And the Everton boss has offered fitness updates over Jarrad Branthwaite and Vitalii Mykolenko ahead of his side's trip to Anfield.

The Blues' most valuable asset Branthwaite hasn’t played all season due to a hamstring injury while Mykolenko missed the first two games of the season before returning against Mansfield Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers, only to withdraw from international duty with Ukraine and be ruled out of the goalless draw at home to Aston Villa last time out.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference before facing the Reds, Moyes said of the pair: “Look, they’re making progress, and we’ll see. We’ve got a couple of other knocks within the camp, but we’ll see how they are.”

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Asked if as a manager, he enjoyed a derby, the Scot said: “I think I’d be lying if I said yes. I think it’s much easier if you’re the team who have got the stronger squad.

“We’re up against it, so we have to go there and fight for everything we can.

“We’ve got to go there and be competitive and make sure we play. We’re showing signs of improving and hopefully we can show that in the game.”

The 62-year-old has failed to win in any of his 22 previous visits to Anfield with Everton, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham United.

But he is hoping to get back to closing the gap between the two Mersey giants having finished above Liverpool three times in his first stint as Everton manager, including consecutive years in 2012 and 2013.

Moyes said: “I think any big derbies in big cities are always important.

“This has always been an incredibly difficult game for me personally because we’ve always come up against really good Liverpool teams who have had some great players over the years and made it really hard for us.

“But we’ve always been competitive, it will not change, we’ll always do everything we can to try and get a victory.

“I think the gap between the two clubs in my first stint was as close as it’s ever been.

“We had occasions when we finished above them a couple of times, but I’ve got to say it’s hard when you’ve got such a successful football club winning trophies and we’ve had to live with that and get on with our own problems which we’ve had more recently.

“I think certainly now we’re in a much better place and we look like we’re heading into a much better place as well.”

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