DOWN AND OUT: Fellaini lies on the ground after the tackle

LONDON: Everton boss David Moyes is still anxiously awaiting news on the fitness of star midfielder Marouane Fellaini. The colourful Belgium international suffered an ankle injury in a controversial challenge with Liverpool's Sotirios Kyrgiakos in the Merseyside derby 1-0 defeat at Anfield last Saturday.

It is feared the 22-year-old could be out for a few weeks — and he has definitely been ruled out of the clash with Chelsea tomorrow (4am) — but Everton are still to learn the full extent of the problem.

"He was due to see a specialist in London but the train he was due to travel down on was cancelled, so he's missed his appointment time. He's booked in now for Thursday," said Moyes.

"But he's got a really bad ankle. I was really surprised — it was like an elephant's ankle, it was that bad. The boy has got a bad-looking injury but until the specialist sees it we can't make any kind of decision.

"He has been a integral part of how we have played in recent weeks and he will be a miss."

Fellaini's injury at least comes at a time when Everton have the strength to cover. The Toffees were hampered by injuries throughout the opening half of the season but Moyes spoke positively last week about how close he was to having a fully-fit squad.

Midfielder Mikel Arteta, only recently returned from close to a year out with a knee problem, replaced Fellaini at the weekend and could continue after coming through unscathed.

Fellaini was hurt as both he and Kyrgiakos attacked a loose ball. Kyrgiakos was sent off for his part in the tackle but some observers claimed Fellaini was equally to blame for the collision and argued that either player could have seen red.

"I said it after the game, and I haven't changed my views, that it was a two-footed tackle off the ground by Kyrgiakos," insisted Moyes.

"He was flying towards a player, he could see that coming all the way, so it was a sending off."

The Fellaini-Kyrgiakos clash was not the only flashpoint in a bruising derby encounter, which Liverpool edged 1-0 with a Dirk Kuyt goal. Everton's Steven Pienaar was also sent off for two bookable offences and Moyes admitted afterwards the South African could have been dismissed earlier than he was. The derby defeat ended Everton's recent upturn in form but Moyes expects his side to recover quickly.

"We don't really need to dust ourselves down. We went nine unbeaten before it and we've lost a game to a set-piece. We had an awful lot of the ball and there are a lot of positives to take.

"We are not going to get too down about it. We are going to try to kick on and win against Chelsea."