Former Everton captain forced to train alone

ALAN STUBBS is training on his own only two months after steering Everton into the Champions League.

The former Toffees captain turned down a one-year extension when his previous contract expired last month and the 33-year-old has yet to find a new club, although he has been linked with Bolton and Aston Villa.

Solitary sessions in local parks are the norm for Stubbs, who is now the only one of Everton’s contract rebels without a club following Alessandro Pistone’s decision to accept a new two-year deal yesterday.

Stubbs’ advisors are in talks with other clubs but it is thought the tough central defender would happily extend his career at Goodison Park if he was offered a similar deal to that which Pistone has agreed.

The problem for Everton is the difference in the players’ ages. Pistone is 30 next month but Stubbs is 34 in October and club officials were not prepared to meet the latter’s desire for a deal longer than 12 months.