David Moyes has confirmed Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye sustained a medial ligament injury during Wednesday’s draw with Liverpool and is expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks.
The 24-year-old was visibly emotional as he limped off the field at Goodison Park 23 minutes into the 2-2 draw.
Moyes was unable to put an exact timeframe on his return but admitted the knee injury was “not looking great”.
“Iliman’s got a medial ligament injury,” Moyes said. “It’s not looking great at the moment. We’re probably not sure about how long it will be. We’ll maybe get a bit more on that but it’s certainly going to be a few weeks.”
Ndiaye’s prognosis signals another injury-enforced absence to Everton’s forward line, with fellow attacking players Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Armando Broja, Youssef Chermiti and Dwight McNeil also sidelined.
His injury comes ahead of a run of games in which Everton face Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers over the next four weeks.
Ndiaye is Everton’s top scorer this season with six goals in 23 Premier League appearances. He joined the club in a £15million (€17.7m; $19m) move from Marseille last summer.
Everton drew 2-2 in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park after an injury-time equaliser from James Tarkowski. Heated post-match scenes also saw red cards handed to Liverpool’s Curtis Jones and Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure as well as Liverpool manager Arne Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff.
Everton return to action against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
