Everton manager David Moyes has indicated that he will likely play Jake O'Brien in his natural centre-back position before the end of the season.
Having played a bit part role in the first half of the season under Sean Dyche, the Republic of Ireland international has become a mainstay of the defence, making the right-back slot his own since Moyes returned to the club for his second spell as manager.
But with centre-back James Tarkowski injured for the remainder of the campaign, Moyes will have to find a short-term replacement for one of the central defensive positions and shifting O'Brien inside is something he is considering doing earlier than planned.
"Well, I think Jake is a centre-half," the manager said at the Toffees' Friday press conference at Finch Farm ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to face Chelsea.
"I'm not worried about doing it, that's for sure. It's trying to get the right balance for the team, which we think he's done a brilliant job playing at full-back, so sometimes you've got the decision to make - do I change two positions or do I change one position?
"We've got Michael Keane available as well, so we've got options and we'll look to play the options between now and the end of the season and find out which one works best for us."
Moyes added that Cork native O'Brien, who joined Everton from Lyon last summer, has not been fulfilling as traditional full-back role as it may appear on paper.
"We think we've done a pretty good job in getting Jake to go and play there and I call it more of a hybrid role because we actually wanted him to tuck in quite a lot and give us a chance to build at times with three defenders not four," he said.
"We've not really asked him to go and be joining in and be overlapping like maybe I would hope from a full back.
"So we've asked him to play a slightly different role. I think he's done it well, it's helped the team. I wouldn't say it's made us more solid but it's not made us any more open and the team's had good performances as well.
"So to then move him can be a problem. But you rightly say we probably need to see how he plays at centre-half.
"My plan was probably to wait and do that in pre-season but it looks as if somewhere along the line, I'll get the opportunity to have a look at him in the coming weeks playing at centre-half."
Meanwhile, Tarkowski faces a race to be fit for the start of pre-season as he is set to undergo surgery on a hamstring injury.
The veteran centre-back's run of 109 consecutive Premier League appearances has come to an end and already Moyes is anxiously looking towards preparations for the new campaign.
"He is going to be out for the rest of the season," said Moyes.
"He will have an operation on his hamstring and it's a big blow to us because Tarky plays such a big role in how we've done so well.
"I think he will be back (for pre-season) but it could start to eat into that as well."
Additional reporting: PA
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
