Everton provide James Tarkowski injury update as David Moyes explains why Idrissa Gana Gueye was subbed

David Moyes has provided an Everton injury update on James Tarkowski after the 2-0 loss to Manchester City,

The Toffees were more than matching the current Premier League champions before Tarkowski’s withdrawal shortly into the second half. But with the game goalless, the Everton skipper was forced off and that contributed to the home side’s downfall at Goodison Park.

City started to get on top and broke the deadlock with six minutes remaining through Nico O’Reilly. Then Mateo Kovacic doubled the visitors’ advantage in stoppage-time.

Moyes confirmed that Tarkowski has sustained a suspected hamstring problem and will be assessed. Speaking at his post-match press conference, the Everton boss said: “It looks like it’s hamstring, obviously, so we've not heard any more than that and we'll get him assessed during the week.”

Moyes admitted that he was disappointed with the impact of his substitutes against City. The Everton chief opted to withdraw midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye, who was on a yellow card. Moyes revealed Gueye and midfield partner James Garner were both suffering with cramp.

Moyes added: “Tarki coming off had a big change in the game, it really did. It shouldn’t have but it did. Our subs didn’t make a difference; their subs did. We tried to change things and didn’t get any control back, Man City got big control in the second half. The first half, we did a really good job creating a few opportunities. We played well but couldn’t get a goal to go with it.

“The injury to Tarki threw us because we had to make a sub and it meant we only had one sub (opportunity) left after that. if we didn’t make three, we were only going to make one and I felt we had to try to see. We need these boys to have a big impact in the game. A lot have done since I came here but I didn’t feel that. Idrissa or Jimmy both felt they were suffering a bit of cramp. That was one of the bits behind that really.”