“Kevin Mirallas, Darron Gibson and Tony Hibbert have all been out and it was important that we got Seamus Coleman back for the game at Cheltenham.

“Undoubtedly, teams will pick up suspensions or injuries and with the tight squad we have we can’t afford players to be out for long periods.

“We are deep into the transfer window now and I have said all along that my intentions are to keep the squad intact.

“My emphasis to the players is to keep focused on the job in hand and that the next game is always the most important one.”

Phil Neville, meanwhile, has criticised the fixture planners and television schedulers for Everton’s away fixtures this month.

Travelling fans began the New Year by having to trek up to Newcastle United for a midweek match, and then headed south the following Monday evening for the FA Cup third round tie at Cheltenham Town.

With next week’s trip to Southampton also on a Monday evening for live television coverage, many Everton supporters will be forced to miss out on at least a half-day of work to attend the match.

Fans were at least spared another lengthy trip in a fortnight with Bolton Wanderers having beaten Sunderland in their FA Cup replay earlier this week, Everton now travelling to the Reebok Stadium on Saturday, January 26 (3pm).

But Everton skipper Neville said: “Our away games this month aren’t very kind with regards to kick-off times.

“Southampton away on a Monday night is really testing for our fans but I’m sure they’ll be there in large numbers, just as they were at Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup.

“But, from a team point of view, I don’t care whether it was Sunderland or Bolton that we got in the next round. The object of any cup tie is to get through it, we’ve done that and we’ll deal with round four when it comes.”