Cahill fit for derby encounter

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill will be fit to face Liverpool on Saturday after recovering from a heavily bruised shin.

The Australia international was injured following a challenge by Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany in the 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.

His manager, David Moyes, was unhappy with what appeared to be a stamp by City's Belgian defender. But Cahill has responded to treatment and has been given the all-clear to face Liverpool.

A derby victory would take Everton above their rejuvenated rivals, with a game in hand, turning a difficult Premier League opening into an encouraging start to the campaign.

Phil Jagielka, the Everton defender, has warned Liverpool there will be no repeat of the dour, defensive tactics deployed to stifle City for much of their last encounter.

"Against City it was more us looking for a draw and maybe nicking a goal," said Jagielka. "We will be trying our best to get three points against Liverpool. It is a good game for us to have after the City defeat.

"There won't need to be a reaction for the Liverpool game. At home we have been doing OK. We changed things around a little bit for the City game, so hopefully we can go back to the way we have been for the Liverpool game and put up a performance and try to get a win.

"It will be nice to get back to that. It's still going to be hard against Liverpool, they've had a decent start to the season so we're not pretending we'll up against a Liverpool that is struggling.

"They have brought in a lot of good players and a lot of good quality. As much as we say we are looking forward to the derby, we aren't expecting to automatically win it."

Sylvain Distin, the Everton defender, will head into the derby having hit an impasse in contract negotiations. Distin, 33, the former Manchester City, Newcastle and Portsmouth centre-half, will be a free agent at the end of this season and is hoping for a two-year deal.

Moyes has a policy of offering one-year extensions to players in their thirties. Distin has been an outstanding acquisition for Moyes since being signed as a replacement for Joleon Lescott from Portsmouth in a £5million deal in 2009.

But the Frenchman will be 34 in December, which is why Moyes is reluctant to think beyond a short-term reward for Distin's fine form.

Only recently, club captain Phil Neville accepted similar terms to those on offer to Distin when he agreed a one-year extension.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is likely to continue his comeback on the bench at Goodison as he eases his way back to full fitness after a six-month groin problem.

Source: Telegraph

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