Everton lose Saha for rest of season

Everton manager David Moyes has confirmed star striker Louis Saha is likely to miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

Saha, who has scored 10 times this campaign, suffered the injury during their 2-1 win against Fulham at Goodison on March 19 when he landed awkwardly after an aerial challenge.

The Frenchman has undergone surgery on the area which will, according to Moyes, rule him out of Saturday’s game against Aston Villa and all but end his season.

“He’s had an operation so that rules him out for this game. He’s not available and he probably won’t be available again this season,” Moyes said.

Everton will also be without midfielder Mikel Arteta for the clash as he struggles to get over a hamstring injury.

Moyes is wary of getting dragged into a fight for survival with eight English Premier League games remaining this season.

Although his side are in eighth place with 40 points, they are just eight clear of the relegation zone, and Moyes is anxious to keep his men winning,

“Three or four games ago it could have been that we were in the bottom three but it can change quickly,” he said.

“We want to try and get as many points as we can this season. It would be good to get the three points.”

“Home games are vital if we want to move up the league. We need to pick up a few more points so we are not one of the big names sucked into the relegation battle.”

Everton’s visitors on Saturday, Aston Villa, are one of those big names fighting for their survival, with just a point separating them from the bottom three.

And Moyes is surprised they are languishing in 14th place.

“Aston Villa have a bunch of really good players which is no surprise for this season’s Premier League,” he said.

“They have good players and I would not expect them to be in that position at the end of the season. But it is difficult to weigh up how the results are going to go.”