Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye will link up with the Senegalese national team despite picking up an injury prior to Saturday’s game against Bournemouth.
The 34-year-old was initially named in Sean Dyche’s starting XI with Belgian international Amadou Onana taking a place amongst the substitutes.
However, an injury to Gueye during the warm-up forced the Everton boss to make a last-minute adjustment to his team, with Onana getting the nod in his place.
Indeed, despite being unavailable for Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Cherries, journalist Papa Mahmoud Gueye has stated that Gana will be fit for next week’s friendly between Senegal and Cameroon.
Taking to Twitter, the journalist revealed: “Gana Gueye, who was also injured during the warm-up on Saturday with Everton, will also be present.
He just had some heel pain, but he will be operational.”
Idrissa Gana Gueye should be staying with Everton for rehabilitation
While it is positive to hear that Gueye’s injury does not appear to be serious, surely the midfielder should remain at Finch Farm for rehabilitation during the international break, especially as his national side are only participating in friendlies.
With influential figures such as Jack Harrison, Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all recently returning from injury, the last thing Sean Dyche needs is to unnecessarily lose such a key player just weeks before the Merseyside derby.
Meanwhile, the Everton boss revealed that he was pleased with Onana’s response after his last-minute inclusion on Saturday and praised £15m midfielder James Garner for his contribution to the 3-0 victory.
Speaking with the Liverpool Echo, Dyche said of Onana’s response: “Well that’s the job. That’s the job as a footballer.
They know the demand, they know there is a group of players here who have a demand on who gets the shirt and that is the job – getting there, taking the chance. I thought he was good today.”
The Everton manager continued: “Him and Jimmy (Garner) were very good. They have been playing well anyway and are both young players who are learning. We want them to learn and push them to learn.”