Season › 2014-15 › News Naismith injury doesn't look serious Lyndon Lloyd , 22 November, 20comments | Jump to most recent Roberto Martinez says that Steven Naismith will miss the trip to Wolfsburg at least while the club's medical staff assess the hamstring injury he sustained in the closing stages of today's win over West Ham. The Scot was stretchered off the field after over-extending the muscle and was replaced by Christian Atsu as the Blues looked to close out a hard-fought 2-1 victory. "It was really late in the game and [there was] probably a little bit of fatigue in the muscles," his manager said after the match. “He looks as though he has a soft-tissue problem, due to the nature of the mechanics of opening the leg so much in such a late moment of the game when muscles can be fatigued. “We'll assess him. He'll probably miss Thursday but I don't expect him to be out too long.” While Leighton Baines missed the game with his own hamstring problem, Martinez was able to welcome back Kevin Mirallas and also include James McCarthy after the Irishman sat out both of his country's recent internationals. His compatriot, Aiden McGeady, had to sit out today, however, through illness. “Aiden McGeady picked up a little bug last night. He had sickness but should be okay in a couple of days,” Martinez explained. Reader Comments (20) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Jim Bennings 1 Posted 22/11/2014 at 22:02:42 Please please no more hamstring injuries..What is it with us and hamstring problem's?I'd go with Eto'o and Lukaku on Thursday, with Barkley next to McCarthy (if he's fit enough) or maybe Besic. Tony J Williams 2 Posted 22/11/2014 at 22:42:31 Another fucking hammy incident... For fuck's sake! Trevor Lynes 3 Posted 22/11/2014 at 23:48:42 Hamstrings have become the curse of the modern footballer. It was not in 'vogue' years ago even though the tackling was tougher and the pitches heavier. Maybe the Teddy Boy wedges made hamstrings stronger :0)Anyway Ozzie had a fine game and I noticed his run half the length of the pitch to slide home Eto'o's pass. He is a clever player and may well blossom in the Barry role where he can direct play and make some space for himself. We may well have stumbled upon his best position.That's seven games without defeat so let's make it eight against the big bad Wolves of Wolfsburg. Bill Gall 4 Posted 23/11/2014 at 01:33:43 We need Baines back for Thursday as we will be put on the defensive. Today we had no pressure on West Ham down our left hand side and on Thursday we will need our full backs to provide an outlet under pressure with Coleman for his speed and Baines for his ability to pass to the midfield and then find the open spaces for the return. Peter Warren 5 Posted 23/11/2014 at 08:51:39 Surely it can't be coincidence all these hamstring injuries. Something has got to change. Geoff Evans 6 Posted 23/11/2014 at 12:27:20 After two all action games for the Scots and the same for us, maybe the manager should have been thinking about the substitution before it was forced. Denis Richardson 7 Posted 23/11/2014 at 12:58:51 Glad to hear it shouldn't be long before he's back. He could probably do with a bit of a rest.Should have a couple more back for Thursday so looking good at the minute. Barry McNally 8 Posted 23/11/2014 at 13:06:33 Geoff, you're 100% spot on. He did the work of two men in the Ireland game and put in a big shift against England. Was surprised to see him even start yesterday. The injuries are having a domino effect in that we are bringing players back to early or using others too much because the treatment room is working overtime. Colin Glassar 9 Posted 23/11/2014 at 13:22:57 A couple of weeks out at least. Mike Allison 10 Posted 23/11/2014 at 16:52:31 "It was really late in the game and [there was] probably a little bit of fatigue in the muscles," his manager said after the match.Yeah no shit Roberto. Anyone who'd watched Scotland v England could have told you this was likely to happen. Eto'o has retired from international football so should have been the first name on the team sheet after an international break.Martinez has continually made baffling team selections this season. He strengthened the squad so that he had two first-team players in every position, then proceeded to run some of them into the ground whilst others look woefully short of game time.Atsu and Besic must be wondering why they bothered signing for us, whilst Naismith and Barry have played nearly every minute they've been available. Bill Gall 11 Posted 23/11/2014 at 18:42:51 Have to agree with Mike the same thing happened with Barry who limped off the previous game before he was recalled for the next game and was injured.that meant he had played in all games Mike Oates 12 Posted 23/11/2014 at 21:03:47 The trouble is that Roberto's "a week or so" turns out to be about twice the length of time, ie, 2 to 4 weeks in all our injuries. Pat Waine 13 Posted 23/11/2014 at 22:44:43 Has anybody seen anything in Atsu that I can't see? Brian Cleveland 14 Posted 23/11/2014 at 23:01:07 I think I need to create a template for this..."ANOTHER hamstring?" Mike Childs 15 Posted 23/11/2014 at 23:15:15 Personally, I think Roberto has done a pretty good job managing the team. To me, in these first 12 weeks, qualifying for the Europa League knock-out stage has been the priority while staying close in the EPL was second on the list. If we win or tie in Wolfsburg on Thursday, mission accomplished. With the exceptions before this week of Barry and Baines, who hasn't gotten any rest for the brutal holiday stretch? Jimmy Mac doesn't rest need a period. The only way to slow him down is with a cast.As for Naisy, I love his engine and commitment to the cause but, if he didn't bring that every week, how in any God's earth can you start him before Eto'o and Barkley? Jim Bennings 16 Posted 24/11/2014 at 08:03:09 PatNo sadly most of us haven't seen anything about Atsu to suggest1) He has got anything to offer.2) He is not going to explode after Christmas unless he has a total transformation into a man that looks like a Premier League footballer.3) He will even stay at Everton beyond January when he is likely to go to the African Nations Cup. The fact is that Chelsea loaned him to us because he wasn't getting games at the Bridge yet he is in the same boat here.All-in-all, Atsu has had no impact whatsoever, not even a cameo impact like Deulofeu. At least Gerry was a player that made sparks fly when he got on the ball, even though he was a tad selfish – he was 20 and could have ironed that out. Atsu is 23 and looks like little boy lost.I said in the summer that the player Everton should have tried moving for was Yannick Bolasie of Palace; I still say the same now only that other clubs are going to start seeing this is an underrated player. We may have missed the boat. Richard Lyons 17 Posted 24/11/2014 at 19:59:47 The way Wolfsburg played in the second half at Goodison, I think we'll need all our best players back if we're to get anything from the game on Thursday. I'm a bit worried that we'll get played off the park, and that won't do our confidence any good for the (probably more important) Sunday game against Tottenham. Bobby's stopped mentioning Kone, hasn't he? Dean Adams 18 Posted 24/11/2014 at 20:16:01 Richard, Kone is history, he is too old to come back from his injuries. Keeps breaking down. He will never get a game for us. Robert Workman 19 Posted 25/11/2014 at 19:26:02 Interesting item about Steven Naismith on BBC Football website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30196603 Barry McNally 20 Posted 25/11/2014 at 19:44:26 Very good article on Beeb. 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