With John Heitinga ineligible and Phil Jagielka still sidelined, Moyes is sweating over the fitness of on-loan centre-back Philippe Senderos, who has a sore back.

Joseph Yobo, whose last Everton appearance came in early December, has trained for the past week and is on standby to deputise alongside Sylvain Distin, while Steven Pienaar is available again after serving a one-match domestic ban. Marouane Fellaini remains absent with Everton expected to discover today the extent of the injury he suffered in the Merseyside derby earlier this month.

This is the fifth season in the last six that Moyes’s side have qualified for European competition. And the manager said: “I think we’re beginning to establish ourselves in Europe.

“That’s why it would be disappointing if we weren’t able to make it again this year through the league.

“I think we’re beginning to enjoy it and improve with it. And, in truth, as a football club we’ve embraced the competition. We’ve gone into every game trying to win and hoping to get through.

“There haven’t been any games where we’ve said ‘we’ll save our players for the Premier League’, we’ve gone into it wholeheartedly and determined to qualify. Beating Chelsea is a good way to go into the game. It gives the players a lot of confidence.”