James McCarthy's knee injury rules him out of Everton's season opener

The Ireland midfielder is ‘back in training, but still not available for the weekend,’ according to Ronald Koeman.

IRELAND MIDFIELDER JAMES McCarthy has been ruled out of Everton’s Premier League opener against Stoke City as his recovery from a knee injury continues.

Ronald Koeman has opted to leave McCarthy out of the squad, as the Toffees hope to get their campaign underway on the right foot.

The 26-year-old — who has been linked with a move away from the the club — sat out of his side’s final pre-season friendly against Sevilla on Sunday, with Koeman citing the injury as the cause.

“James still has some issues on his knee so out of protection I left him out,” he said afterwards.

In the run-up to tomorrow’s game, Koeman has said that it has come too soon for the Irish international but that he’s back in training.

“Ross (Barkley) and James are back in training but they are still not available for the weekend,” he told everontv. Maybe after that, yes. The rest are ready to start.”

Meanwhile, Everton’s prodigal son Wayne Rooney is set to start in his Premier League homecoming at Goodison.