Everton forward to miss 10 games as David Moyes primed to call-up 18-year-old duo

David Moyes will head into Everton's clash against Leicester City depleted of attacking options.

The Toffees are short of numbers because of their injury crisis. Beto is the only fit striker, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin sidelined for a prolonged period after sustaining a hamstring issue in last weekend's 1-0 win over Brighton.

With Armando Broja (ankle) and Youssef Chermiti (thigh) also unavailable for a sustained period, Beto will likely be selected to spearhead the attack. What's more, Dwight McNeil is set to miss another chunk of fixtures after having minor knee surgery. The versatile forward has not played for almost two months and will miss a 10th successive fixture.

Given the paucity of options, Moyes could call upon Martin Sherif to the Everton squad again. The 18-year-old striker has been involved in two match-day set-ups since Moyes returned as Toffees manager last month. Sherif, who is a Netherlands youth international, has netted three times in eight appearances for the under-21s this season.

Harrison Armstrong, who turned 18 last month, is primed to again be involved. Armstrong has been part of every Premier League match-day squad this campaign and came off the bench three times. He was also highly impressive in the 2-0 FA Cup third-round triumph against Peterborough United.

Tim Iroegbunam could well feature in reserve after coming through training unscathed, with the midfielder not playing since the start of October because of a stress fracture of the foot.

Iroegbunam may fill the void of Orel Mangala, with the Lyon loanee ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Against the backdrop of Mangala’s setback, James Garner is in contention to start after making his first start since recovering from a back injury.

Garner missed three months of action but came off the bench at Brighton and he could partner Idrissa Gana Gueye in the engine room or Abdoulaye Doucoure may be dropped into a deeper role. That would mean a shuffle in the No.10 role, though.

Everton are at least looking strong in defence although Seamus Coleman is again set to be unavailable. The Toffees skipper has been hampered with fitness issues throughout the season and managed just four appearances in all competitions. Coleman’s Republic of Ireland team-mate Jake O’Brien is in contention feature at right-back yet again, having been impressed in wins over Tottenham and Brighton.

Moyes goes in search of three successive victories since he retook the Goodison Park driving seat. Everton have the chance to move 10 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone ahead of 18-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers facing Aston Villa later in the evening.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Blues chief Moyes said: “I think the players deserve the credit. The players have adapted very quickly. We're losing Dom, at the moment, which is a blow to us. But I actually think there have been a lot of positives.

"Last week at Brighton, we had to show a lot of the stuff that's been ingrained in the players over the past few years - hard to beat, hard to play against, don't make it easy."