Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed that defender James Tarkowski will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
No outfield player has played more minutes for the Toffees this season than Tarkowski (3,014) who has established himself as a key first-team figure since the arrival of Moyes.
However, the 32-year-old pulled his hamstring during the second half of Everton's 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City last weekend and now requires surgery.
Moyes confirmed the news at press conference on Friday ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Chelsea and he has revealed that Tarkowski may face a race against time to recover before the club begins pre-season.
"Tarky's out, he's going to be out for the rest of the season. He'll have an operation on his hamstring," Moyes told reporters.
"It's a big blow for us because Tarky has played such a huge part of what we've done and how we've done so well in this period. I think he'll be back [for pre-season] but it could eat into that."
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O'Brien or Keane to replace Tarkowski at centre-back?
Michael Keane did not cover himself in glory when he came on to replace Tarkowski against Man City, and Moyes has suggested that Jake O'Brien could be moved into central defence, even though he has impressed at right-back since the turn of the year.
"Jake is a centre-half so I'm not worried about doing it, that's for sure", said the Scotsman. "It's just trying to get the right balance for the team.
"He's done a brilliant job at full-back so it's just weighing up whether we want to make one or two changes in position. We've got Michael Keane so we have options and we'll look to play those options to see what works best."
Calvert-Lewin closing in on Everton return
Meanwhile, Moyes has delivered a positive update on striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has been sidelined since the end of January with a hamstring injury.
"Dom's very close to coming back into training," he added. "He's not training with the first team yet, he's doing plenty of work on the grass, but he's close now."
Calvert-Lewin remains in the treatment room with Jesper Lindstrom (groin) and Orel Mangala (knee) who, like Tarkowski, are ruled out for the remainder of the campaign, while Chelsea loanee Armando Broja is ineligible to face his parent club this weekend.
Oliver Thomas
