Seamus Coleman's availability for the Republic of Ireland's upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers next month is in doubt after he suffered a leg injury in Everton's Premier League draw with Leicester on Monday.
The Everton and Ireland captain collided with Leicester midfielder Boubakary Soumare just before the break at the King Power Stadium, resulting in a lengthy stoppage before he departed the field of play.
Coleman had missed the Toffees' last three league encounters with a hamstring injury.
The extent of the injury will be a worry for Ireland as Stephen Kenny's side prepare for their next Euro 2024 qualifier assignments against Greece away (16 June) and Gibraltar (19 June) at the Aviva Stadium.
Speaking to BBC after the game, Sean Dyche confirmed Coleman had incurred a knee injury, adding "it doesn't look too good at the minute but we'll wait and see."
Alex Iwobi ultimately rescued a point for Everton against their drop rivals.
The forward capitalised on Jordan Pickford's crucial penalty save when he stopped James Maddison making it 3-1 just before the break.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s spot-kick opened the scoring, his first goal since October, before it was cancelled out by Caglar Soyuncu.
Jamie Vardy’s goal sent Leicester ahead and Maddison missed the chance to put the hosts in control, with Iwobi levelling soon after the restart.
Realistically, a point did little to aid either side’s Premier League survival hopes in the short term, although it did lift Leicester out of the bottom three on goal difference. Everton remain second bottom, a point from safety, with four games left.
Sean Dyche’s impact, which earned two wins from his opening three games, has waned and just one further victory since has left the Toffees staring into the abyss.
If there were any nerves, the visitors hid them well and only Daniel Iversen’s fabulous save denied Iwobi an opener following Abdoulaye Doucoure’s driving run.
Maddison’s tame shot was gathered by Pickford in a rare Leicester attack before the Toffees grabbed a deserved 15th-minute lead.
It was a gift from the hosts, though, as Timothy Castagne’s moment of madness saw him unnecessarily barge Calvert-Lewin over in the box.
The striker kept his composure from the spot to score just his second goal of an injury-ravaged season.
Leicester boss Dean Smith had criticised the schedule which, starting against Everton, will see the Foxes play four Monday night games – after all their rivals.
But defeats for Leeds and Nottingham Forest had given them the platform to escape the bottom three, one they were in danger of losing until levelling out of the blue after 22 minutes.
Maddison’s free-kick was only half-cleared and Wout Faes nodded back Harvey Barnes’ cross for Soyuncu to turn in from 10 yards – his first goal for the Foxes since October 2021.
It changed the direction of the game as Leicester found their rhythm to go ahead after 33 minutes.
As much as the Foxes had found theirs, Everton had lost any composure and Iwobi’s poor pass was intercepted by Youri Tielemans for Maddison to find Vardy.
The striker dashed clear of Michael Keane to round Pickford and score. It is the first time in a year he has scored in successive games.
It sparked a madcap finish to the half and only Iversen’s fine stop from Dwight McNeil kept the hosts ahead.
Leicester survived again when Calvert-Lewin could only direct McNeil’s ball at Iversen from two yards – with Soyuncu’s touch on the cross denying the striker a simple tap-in.
Leicester immediately broke and Vardy bamboozled Keane only to chip onto the bar from eight yards.
The Toffees then lost their skipper when Coleman was carried off after Soumare’s challenge.
It almost got worse when Keane handled Barnes’ cross in the box but Pickford stood up to save Maddison’s poor penalty. The notes for Maddison’s penalty technique on the goalkeeper’s water bottle said 'stay'.
It was a lifeline Everton grabbed as they levelled nine minutes after the restart.
Iversen had already saved from Calvert-Lewin but he was powerless to stop Iwobi from drilling in after Faes had touched on McNeil’s delivery.
Parity restored, the game continued at a relentless pace with James Tarkowski blocking Vardy’s goalbound header.
A frantic finish then saw Iversen turn Doucoure’s drive wide to preserve a result neither side really wanted.
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