Arteta injury worries boss Moyes

2011-03-10 13:04:34

David Moyes fears Mikel Arteta could be out for a "few weeks" after the Everton midfielder appeared to suffer a hamstring injury against Birmingham.

The Spaniard limped off having played only seven minutes of the 1-1 draw and was replaced by Seamus Coleman.

Everton are already without injured midfielders Marouane Fellaini, Tim Cahill and Phil Neville.

"It looks like a hamstring injury. I'm guessing he'll be out for a few weeks," boss Moyes told the club website.

Birmingham, too, suffered an injury setback when midfielder David Bentley limped off after eight minutes with a muscle strain.

"Maybe it was a kicking strain he picked up before the game, but I don't know how long he'll be out for," said Birmingham manager Alex McLeish.

Birmingham took the lead when Jean Beausejour headed in after 17 minutes before Johnny Heitinga equalised for Everton with a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the area.

Apart from the goal, Birmingham created very few chances during a match that Everton dominated possession.

However, McLeish was delighted that his team's performance had improved from the 3-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich last week.

"We wanted to be more compact today. We were too open against West Brom," added the Scot.

"We defended well but didn't penetrate after a bright start. I would like to compliment my team on their battling qualities."

The victory moved Birmingham one place above the relegation places and ahead of West Ham on goal difference.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

// Skip to top PRODUCTS & SERVICES Daily and weekly e-mails Mobiles Desktop Tools News feeds Interactive TV Podcasts A-Z of Sports American Football Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Bowls Boxing Canoeing Cricket Cycling Darts Disability sport Diving Equestrian Fencing Football Formula 1 Gaelic Games Golf Gymnastics Handball Hockey Horse Racing Ice Hockey Judo Modern Pentathlon MotoGP Motorsport Netball Rowing Rugby League Rugby Union Sailing Shooting Snooker Squash Swimming Table Tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Weightlifting Winter Sports Wrestling blq.setLabel('searchSuggestion', 'Search BBC Sport');

Search term:

bbc.co.uk navigation News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio More CBBC CBeebies Comedy Food Health History Learning Music Science Nature Local Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Full A-Z of BBC sites BBC links Mobile site Terms of Use About the BBC Privacy BBC Help Cookies Accessibility Help Parental Guidance

Source: