Heitinga blow for Toffees

Everton midfielder John Heitinga could miss the rest of the season because of a hairline fracture of the ankle.

Heitinga sat out last weekend’s victory over Blackburn after suffering the injury in the previous match against Aston Villa.

Mikel Arteta looks certain to retain his place for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League visit of Fulham after recovering from a groin strain but Marouane Fellaini and Dan Gosling remain absent.

Provisional squad: Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Yobo, Baines, Pienaar, Osman, Cahill, Arteta, Bilyaletdinov, Saha, Rodwell, Senderos, Yakubu, Hibbert, Turner, Duffy, Anichebe, Wallace.