Gibson and Pienaar out for Toffees

Midfielder Darron Gibson has been ruled out for several months after rupturing a cruciate knee ligament on international duty.

Steven Pienaar is still a week away from full recovery from a hamstring injury and will not be considered for the visit of Hull.

Defender Antolin Alcaraz is making good progress from a hernia problem but is still at least three weeks away from joining the squad while on-loan midfielder Gareth Barry returns after being ineligible to face Manchester City before the break.

Provisional squad: Howard, Coleman, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Mirallas, McCarthy, Barry, Osman, Barkley, Lukaku, Robles, Stones, Heitinga, Jelavic, Kone, Deulofeu, Oviedo.