Jack Grealish has been omitted from Everton's Carabao Cup squad to face Newcastle United following a breach of club discipline.
The Blues meet their Premier League counterparts in the fourth round of the competition at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the fixture appeared an ideal chance for Manchester City loanee Grealish to regain match sharpness, having been absent for significant portions of last season due to injury. However, he was notably missing from the team sheet, with Everton confirming his absence was not injury-related.
Club statement on Grealish absence
A social media statement from the club ahead of Thursday's match read: "Jarrad Branthwaite remains sidelined for a second successive game due to concussion protocols, while Jack Grealish is unavailable for selection due to a breach of Club discipline."
Everton have yet to disclose specifics of the breach, though the ECHO has learned that Grealish did not attend a training session after being unavailable for Saturday's 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal through illness. His exclusion arrives just weeks after manager David Moyes outlined his expectations of the 31-year-old.
Moyes on Grealish's role
He said: "I think Jack knows what I expect now. We had lots of conversations last year. He knows when he comes here there is an opportunity for him to play and to show what he can do.
"But I also want him to be a senior professional and a role model. We've got Tyrique and Tyler and if ever you are looking at somebody for how to play as a wide player, Jack Grealish would certainly be one of them. I think both of them could learn an awful lot from Jack and I want him to become that senior citizen amongst them, somebody who teaches them."
Moyes added: "If there is one person who would be able to carry that [pressure] it would be Jack, just because of the way he is. He will find it easy to carry expectation and he'll be happy to do so. That's his character."
Grealish enjoyed a fruitful loan spell at Everton last season before an injury cut his stint with the club short. He came back to Merseyside this summer and has featured six times, though he is still waiting to register a goal contribution.
