Everton play down Pienaar fears

Everton’s medical staff have played down fears over the seriousness of the knee injury suffered by Steven Pienaar at the weekend.

The South African midfielder was stretchered off during the 1-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday and has been hobbling around on crutches ever since.

But while Pienaar will miss the trip to Belarus for Thursday’s Europa League match at BATE Borisov and is also doubtful for Sunday’s home game with Stoke, a lengthy lay-off has been ruled out.

“There’s no timescale at the moment but hopefully it will only be something short-term,” said club physiotherapist Mick Rathbone. “Steven took an almighty knock on the inside of the knee, so he is pretty sore.

“There’s a lot of bruising and a lot of swelling around the area, so we’ve got him on crutches at the moment.”