Moyes on Tarkowski, centre-half options and Chelseapublished at 14:34 BST 25 April
Holly Bacon
BBC Sport journalist
Everton boss David Moyes has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Chelsea (kick-off 12:30 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Moyes confirmed that James Tarkowski is out for the remainder of the season and will have an operation on his hamstring. He added: "It's a big blow to us because Tarky plays such a huge part of what we've done and how we've done so well in this period." He thinks the defender will be back for the start of pre-season but admitted it could start to "eat into that".
Moyes also confirmed Dominic Calvert-Lewin is close to returning to first-team training.
On the prospect of using Jake O'Brien at centre-half he said: "I think Jake is a centre-half so I'm not worried about doing it, that's for sure. It's trying to get the right balance for the team. He has done a brilliant job at full-back so sometimes you've got your decision to make. Do you change two positions or one position? We've got Michael Keane available as well so we've got options and we'll look to play the options between now and the end of the season and find which works best for us."
On Bramley-Moore Dock, he said: "My plan was that we'd go to the stadium and maybe do two or three training sessions as well - but they've gone and dug the pitch up. It looks as if I'm not going to get down to the new stadium at all at the moment, which I'm pretty disappointed in, to be honest." He said the modern player is used to playing at stadiums all over and that it is not something "completely strange" to them but "the point is to turn it into your home and feel comfortable and know your surroundings".
He also praised their performances in recent games but admitted they're in for a difficult game against Chelsea: "Their home record is good and actually we've not got a great record going to Stamford Bridge over the years either, so from that point of view we know we're up for a tough game. Against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, I think we've done very well and this period of games has been a difficult one. I go in there with real confidence and belief that we can go and try to make something happen again."
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