Team news

Neville to miss Pompey game
Everton captain Phil Neville will miss the game against Portsmouth after undergoing minor surgery on his left knee.

Neville went under the knife on Thursday and Toffees manager David Moyes confirmed to the club's website that the 33-year-old will miss the Barclays Premier League finale at Goodison Park.

"Phil Neville has had orthoscopic surgery on his knee," Moyes told www.evertonfc.com.

"After his injury earlier this season he had a slight touch on his cartilage so it has been repaired now. It means he won't play against Portsmouth, though." Neville missed more than three months of the season after damaging his left knee in a challenge with Fulham's Dickson Etuhu on September 13.

John Heitinga is hoping to feature. The Dutch utility player has missed the last two games with a hairline fracture of the ankle but has returned to training.

Moyes admits playing Heitinga would be a risk but says he is "desperate" to take part and will be given a fitness test.

Marouane Fellaini (ankle) and Dan Gosling (knee) are the Toffees' other major absentees.

Avram Grant has pledged to field his fittest players for already-relegated Portsmouth, but warned it will not be the same team as will play in next Saturday's FA Cup final.

Boss Grant has a least 10 players doubtful, but could spring a surprise by recalling Pompey's Player of the Year Jamie O'Hara who is training again after missing the last four games with a back injury.

Everton vs Portsmouth

Last modified 22:16 09/05/10

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How ironic that Everton should steal a game they didn’t deserve to win with the last dramatic kick.

Because this morning they will look back on the campaign with a haunting sense of what might have been – finishing just two painful points behind their bitter rivals Liverpool in the last Europa League spot.

This win over a spirited Portsmouth side – thanks to a wonderstrike from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov – ensured David Moyes’ side set a new club record run of 11 unbeaten Premier League games.

They have lost only twice since November.

Yet even during that period they dropped points that were rightfully theirs.

No fewer than 11 in fact, starting with that last defeat in February at Spurs, when they missed a chance to equalise from two yards out. Since then they have tossed away 10 more points with draws in matches they dominated – the difference between where they are and a Champions League place.

It emphasises just what a good team they have here at Goodison, and how much they can achieve.

Even Moyes accepted the point afterwards: “There is a sense of regret at the points we have dropped on the run-in because we have a gifted a few away after playing such good football.

“I think now the players need me and the club to back up the work they have done in playing some exceptional football, by making sure we have something at the top end to finish off the chances we create.

“So in the summer we have to add that general mentality to see out games if we are going to kick on and be at the top.”

This game was a case in point until Bilyaletdinov scored an incredible winner in the fourth minute of injury time. It really shouldn’t have taken them that long.

They could have been four up within the first five minutes, as a stunning opening passage of play ripped the visitors apart, only for Mikel Arteta, Tony Hibbert, Victor Anichebe and Louis Saha to miss golden opportunities.

Everton’s weakness, as Moyes accepts, is a distinct lack of a ruthlessness in front of goal.

And here was a case in point, because those missed chances gave Portsmouth confidence and a growing strength in their admirably resolute defence.

They were only breached when Bilyaletdinov got the ball in the dying seconds, looked up and from 25 yards curled a beautiful left foot shot into the top corner with the accuracy of an army sniper.

Again, that goal hinted at the quality the Russian winger possesses, and illustrates perfectly the sort of football Everton are capable of playing.

Yet this was a game that Everton could easily have lost because Pompey scored a perfectly good goal that was ruled out for offside.

In surely the worst officiating decision of the season from a clearly visually impaired linesman, sub Jamie O’Hara scuffed a shot that found Anthony Vanden Borre, who converted with THREE defenders between him and the net. It wasn’t even close.

For Portsmouth, it sums up the story of their bizarre season. Even here, with nothing to play for and after – apparently – a big night out on the eve of this game, they gave it everything.

No wonder their manager Avram Grant was full of pride and no little optimism afterwards. “It’s the last game after seven years in the Premier League for Portsmouth and it’s goodbye - but only goodbye for the moment,” he said.