Wednesday
AEK Athens v Everton, 6.00pm
David Moyes, the Everton manager, will be without his central defender Joseph Yobo for Wednesday’s Europa League clash with AEK Athens, as the Toffees look to secure a place in the knockout stage.
Yobo, 29, suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday’s derby defeat by Liverpool and has failed to recover in time for the crucial game in Greece. Moyes will also be without the ineligible duo Lucas Neill and John Heitinga , and Leon Osman (foot) is still unavailable with a foot injury.
However, Everton will be boosted by the return of Jack Rodwell, who has recovered from the groin strain, which kept him out of the clash with Liverpool. Tony Hibbert is set to equal Everton’s European appearance record - 19 matches -, which is jointly held by Colin Harvey and Brian Labone.
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Everton (from): Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Distin, Coleman, Mustafi, Gosling, Duffy, Cahill, Rodwell, Pienaar, Bilyaletdinov, Fellaini, Jo, Saha, Baxter, Yakubu, Akpan, Nash.
Celtic v Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 8.05pm
Tony Mowbray, the Celtic manager, is set to recall Artur Boruc to his side tonight for their Europa League clash with Group C leaders Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Only a win will do for Mowbray’s side, and Boruc is set to return following knee surgery, having not played a match since the home tie with Hamburg in late October. Celtic last month asked Uefa for special dispensation to bring Dominic Cervi into their squad, but Boruc has now received permission to return.
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Zheng Zhi is unavailable for the match as he is ineligible, whilst midfielders Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney are injured.
Celtic (from): Boruc, Zaluska, Caldwell, Loovens, Daniel Fox, Hinkel, McGeady, McGinn, Robson, N’Guemo, Crosas, Samaras, Fortune, McDonald, McManus, Cervi, Thompson, Carey, McCourt, Wilson.
Thursday
Fulham v CSKA Sofia, 8.05pm
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Roy Hodgson, the Fulham manager, should be able to call on his captain Danny Murphy for his side’s Europa League tie with CSKA Sofia on Thursday.
That is the only piece of good news on the injury front for Fulham, who are still without Andy Johnson, Diomansy Kamara and Dickson Etuhu. Hodgson is also without suspended trio Erik Nevland, Paul Konchesky and Jonathan Greening, so the recovery of Murphy will be vital for Fulham, who must win to have any chance of progressing through to the knockout stages.
Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland, Pantsil, Duff, Gera, Murphy, Dempsey, Davies, Zamora, Stockdale, Riise, Smalling, Anderson, Saunders, Watts, Uwezu