“I have questions” – National team in firing line over Everton injury

Everton defender Vitaliy Mykolenko was misdiagnosed by Ukraine’s medical team, leading to him returning to the Toffees early.

The left-back has become something of an injury mystery over this international break after playing 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over Hungary on September 25^th.

He was subsequently left out of the 0-0 draw with Georgia, before then being sent back to Everton and missing the losses to Northern Ireland and Hungary through an unknown injury.

Neither Everton nor the Ukrainian national team have provided any update on that injury as yet. Indeed, details have been rather vague on the matter.

What’s being said in Ukraine

Initially it appeared that the defender had suffered a minor injury and would feature in more of Ukraine’s games before the break ended.

Sport Witness covered comments from manager Andrea Maldera, who stated the player was simply not feeling right.

A further report then indicated that the Everton man was suffering from a leg injury which was worse than first feared. Ukraine then released a statement on the matter, which was vague again.

‘Ukrainian national team defender Vitaliy Mykolenko will not help the national team in the October matches of the Nations League due to injury,’ it said.

‘The football player has already left the national team camp and went to recover at his club, Everton.’

Where blame is being sent

Now Ihor Burbas has provided his own information from behind the scenes. And it seems he’s putting the blame solely on Ukraine.

“I have questions for the national team’s medical staff,” he said on his YouTube channel.

“From what I hear, the situation regarding Mykolenko does not look very professional. He had leg pain. But after an assessment, the medics said there was nothing serious and allowed him to train.

“He went out for the session, after which the pain intensified. The player was then released to return to his club. At the club, an examination revealed that he should not have been training in that condition at all. He needed to take a break.”

The worry for Everton is that Mykolenko is now set for a spell on the sidelines. That will leave David Moyes scrambling to find a solution, with the Ukrainian the only left back in his squad at present.