Everton wait to find out if Howard can face United

Sep 12 2007 by Nick Smith, Liverpool Daily Post

Tim Howard in action (158)

EVERTON will discover the extent of Tim Howard’s finger injury this morning – and whether he will be able to face Manchester United on Saturday.

The goalkeeper returned late yesterday from the USA, where he suffered the dislocated finger during the Americans’ 4-2 friendly defeat to Brazil on Sunday.

He is due to have it fully assessed by Everton’s medical staff today to determine whether playing against his former club would aggravate it further.

If that is deemed to be the case, German keeper Stefan Wessels will prepare for his first team debut. The recent signing from FC Cologne made a promising first club appearance last week against Sunderland reserves, although Everton lost the game 2-1.

If Wessels appears it will mean Howard continuing his frustrating wait to face United since leaving them for Goodison in the summer of 2006.

The 28-year-old was initially on loan when he made the move so was ruled out of the meeting at Old Trafford last November which United won 3-0.

When his transfer was made permanent in the January window, an agreement between the clubs prevented him appearing in the return fixture at Goodison in April.

Everton led that game 2-0 before a mistake by Howard’s replacement Iain Turner allowed John O’Shea to put United back in the game before they stormed back to win 4-2, a victory that took them to the brink of the title.

Making Saturday’s game, which kicks off at 12pm, now depends on whether Howard’s finger has recovered sufficiently not just from the injury but from the effects of playing the remainder of the weekend international in Chicago after he sustained it.

Also on the Everton injury front, Tim Cahill is due to discover today if he can return to training following the recurrence of the broken metatarsal he suffered against Werder Bremen in pre-season.

The six-week diagnosis for his latest lay-off expired yesterday and although the Australian is out of contention for the weekend, he has had an X-ray to assess the progress of his recovery.

On the subject of broken metatarsals, Manchester United are hopeful the one Wayne Rooney received in the opening day draw with Reading will have healed enough for him to be on the bench.

But despite reports claiming the former Everton forward could return to help his side record a third successive Premier League win, the following week’s home encounter with title rivals Chelsea seems more realistic.