Beattie hopeful of quick comeback
James Beattie’s latest injury setback is not as bad as first thought and he could be fit to play in Everton’s next match at Spurs on Saturday week.
The £6m (€8.7m) striker limped out of an Everton reserves match last night after scoring just three minutes into the 3-1 defeat away to Manchester United.
He suffered a calf injury and was withdrawn after just 20 minutes but club physio Mick Rathbone said, after examining the player at the club’s Bellefield training ground this morning, the prognosis was a positive one.
“It looks like a relatively minor calf strain, although it is too early to say whether he will be able to play in our next match,” he said.
Beattie has been dogged by fitness and injury problems since arriving from Southampton in January.
“It is all just bad luck, but I can shake this little injury off and get back to playing again,” he said.
He has only just returned to action after several weeks out with a toe injury. Last season his attempts to fight his way into the Everton side were further handicapped when he was sent off against Chelsea in his seventh match for the club and subsequently banned.
He has managed only 18 appearances for Everton and has yet to become the focal point of a rebuilding programme in the way manager David Moyes would have hoped.
Beattie could certainly have done without this latest setback but Rathbone said: “James felt his calf tighten up after 15 minutes and he tried to run it off. But he was still feeling some discomfort so he was sensible enough to come off the pitch.”
Beattie has played in Everton’s last two first team matches against Dinamo Bucharest and Manchester City, introduced as a substitute on both occasions.
He is now desperate to get himself back in the starting line-up and is focusing on featuring at White Hart Lane.
“Hopefully I can put it all behind me now, shake this little one off and start playing football,” Beattie told the club’s website, www.evertonfc.com.
“I’ve just got to put it down to bad luck. There’s nothing else I can do. I felt my calf tighten up. Hopefully it’s just a question of getting some physio and resting.
“It was quite a sensible decision to come off and let’s hope that I can get back as soon as possible. We will just have to see what it’s like next week.”
