And Moyes said: “He has a slight twist in his knee but I hope it is not too bad.”

Goalscorers Rodwell and Saha were the only changes from the team that lost against Arsenal at the weekend. And Moyes added: “Louis has done really well in pre-season. He was unlucky not to start on Saturday and you could see tonight the quality that he has got.”

Everton overcame a slow start last night during which Sigma had strong claims for a penalty waved away when Jakub Petr fell over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Tim Howard.

“It was good response to the Arsenal game and I am really pleased with the result,” said Moyes.

“We still have a difficult second leg to play but tonight was a good performance at times.

“It was very tight in the first 30 minutes.

“We didn’t start particularly well and the opposition did very well. They will feel aggrieved at not getting a penalty so we had a bit of good fortune at that point. It was a good result but I thought Sigma caused us several problems, especially in the first half.”

With another six European games now almost a certainty, Moyes admits he must bolster his squad if Everton, as expected, secure their place in the group stage next week.

And the Scot has set his sights on four new names, with a centre-half a priority.

“I want to be in the Europa League,” said the manager. “This season it means big games if we get through – and that is still an if – but the squad depth is a definite concern.

“We are getting closer but I have been saying that since the weekend now but there are still 11 days to go and I think we need to bring in four before then.”