Everton winger Theo Walcott is hoping to make a rare appearance in Wednesday night’s home Carabao Cup tie against West Ham.

“The problem is the competition is really high now in this moment,” he said.

“Sometimes it can happen that a player like Theo is not involved.”

Fabian Delph is another fringe player who could feature but central defenders Mason Holgate (toe) and Jarrad Branthwaite (ankle) remain unavailable.

West Ham’s former Everton boss David Moyes missed the 4-0 win over Wolves on Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus and he will again miss out.

Alan Irvine will be on the touchline as Moyes oversees the game from home.

Defender Issa Diop and midfielder Josh Cullen are also self isolating, while full-back Ryan Fredericks injured his hamstring against Wolves.

The new Hartson? – the stats

• Everton have won both of their previous League Cup ties with West Ham, winning in the fourth round after a replay in 1983-84, and a quarter-final tie in 2007-08.
• West Ham have won two of their last five meetings with Everton in all competitions (D1 L2), as many as they had in their previous 25 against the Toffees (W2 D9 L14).
• West Ham have kept just one clean sheet in their last 24 League Cup meetings with Premier League opponents, with that coming in a 4-0 quarter-final win against Manchester United in 2010-11.
• Sebastien Haller has scored four goals in his two League Cup appearances for West Ham this season – the last player to score more in a single season of the competition for the Hammers was John Hartson in 1997-98 (6).