Moyes Talks Team News & Nørgaard Fitness Ahead Of Arsenal Trip

David Moyes remained quiet on team news for Everton's trip to Arsenal this weekend, while providing an update on the fitness of "great character" Christian Nørgaard.

The Blues take on the reigning Premier League champions at Emirates Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off), but boss Moyes would not be drawn into revealing any fitness issues facing his squad.

Speaking in Friday's pre-match press conference at Finch Farm, Moyes said: "We've got our share of bits and pieces and we'll keep them quiet.

When asked specifically about the availability of Jarrad Branthwaite, Moyes added: "I wouldn't be answering any questions [on team news], at the minute, that's for sure."

Discussing summer signing Nørgaard, who made his debut for the Club as a late substitute against Chelsea last weekend, Moyes added: "It actually wasn't a difficult decision to bring him on, because he's trained. I was trying to see if I could get him the final 15-20 minutes of the game because it would have been another little bit of game time for him.

"But I think when we brought him on we realised he's a little bit further away than we hoped. But we also expected that, we didn't think he was going to be back fully firing until probably after the next international break, because he's had no real pre-season with us. He's probably had 7-10 days of training, half a game (behind closed doors) but we'd seen enough to suggest – and I wanted to see if I could get him 20 minutes, the game time he needs. We tried it and it showed he's probably got a bit to go.

"Christian was the first one to come to me and say he was sorry about it and he's realised he's probably a bit further away."

Asked if Nørgaard's debut has affected his future plans, Moyes added: "Probably. There was actually part of me last week that was half considering starting him, and I'm glad I didn't. I saw bits in training which made me think he was getting ready but maybe also things just went wrong. He got a couple of loose passes which he had to deal with and tried to tidy up.

"He's training great, he's a brilliant character behind the scenes for the players, so we're just hoping to get him back into full condition."

The Opposition

Former Everton midfielder and current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will be without Bukayo Saka after the winger sustained a thigh injury during Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

William Saliba and Christos Tzolis have also been ruled out, but Piero Hincapie could return after missing the Gunners' past three games with an ankle issue.