Romelu Lukaku could be fit for Everton’s next match against Southampton when the Premier League resumes.
The 18-goal striker is missing from his country’s Euro 2016 qualifiers with a hamstring problem this week but may be fit enough to take on the Saints at Goodison Park according to manager Roberto Martinez.
“Romelu had his scan with the Belgian set-up and he’s going to be receiving treatment for the next few days, and we’ll see how that evolves,” said the Blues boss.
“It’s a bit of a hamstring strain due to the amount of games that we’ve played and the amount of fatigue we’ve accumulated in those games.
“We’re quite positive because of the way Rom usually reacts to these types of treatments and how fit he is as an individual.”
Darron Gibson also withdrew from the Republic of Ireland squad this week with a stomach problem and will be assessed of next Saturdaya s game but Martinez says the fixture will come too soon for Steven Pienaar, Bryan Oviedo and Tony Hibbert.
Martinez said: a Darron has been working well in the last two days but he has a stomach strain so we are going to see how long that is going to settle.”
a But by midweek we should probably know how long he is maybe going to be out, but at the moment it is quite positive in the way he is feeling. But it was impossible for him to feel free to participate at the weekend so wea ll be open minded.
Martinez claims Arouna Kone will be fit for the Saints game after a scan on his sore knee came back clear.
“We were delighted with the results of the scan, which showed first and foremost that Arouna’s ankle and knee are really strong,” he said.
“In the last two days his joints have practically been back to normal, so we’re very confident he could be fully fit for the game against Southampton, although it will be important to see him working with the group and see how he adapts throughout next week.”
a Bryan Oviedo is stepping up his recovery, as is Tony Hibbert, and will maybe the Southampton game will be too early but I dona t expect him to be out for too long now.a
Martinez has also confirmed that Steven Pienaar ,who has been suffering from a knee injury will train with the rest of the first-team on Monday and the Blues boss hopes he can finally be free of the injury nightmare that has plagued his season.
a Stevie P will rejoin the group next week,a he confirmed.
a He has been doing really, really well in the last few days but he has been out for such a long time that we need to be careful about reintroducing him.
a But he is fully fit to rejoin the group on Monday which is fantastic news.
a Stevie P is quite a unique player and what he brings to this side and we have missed this season.
a So if we can finish the season with him fully fit then it would be a massive boost.
a Wea ll see how he adapts into the first two or three sessions and make a decision. He is fully fit now and Ia m really happy with the way he has reacted to the sessions but we need to make sure we give him what he needs now. Playing with the under-21s would help that but there are no games until the end of April now so it is going to be difficult.a
Everton are currently 13th in the Premier League with 34 points , 19 points behind Southampton who are in 6th position.