Everton manager Sean Dyche has admitted that Dele Alli is a long way from being ready to play.
The former Tottenham attacking midfielder may not feature for the club this term.
Alli has been recovering from a back problem and other niggling injuries over the past year.
Dyche said: We'll see. There's a long way to go. We've deliberately kept him back, we agreed with him to give him time and space.
Hopefully he'll be back, we just don't know.
We've given him the privacy he needs at this time. He's in good shape.
I spoke to him recently and we had a good long conversation with him.
Making sense of another injury is difficult but he'll come through that."