Follow Thursday night's FA Cup fifth-round action via our dedicated live blog as Everton welcome National League Boreham Wood, the lowest-ranked side left in the competition
Friday 4 March 2022 08:05, UK
Can the lowest-ranked side left in the FA Cup, Boreham Wood, cause one of the biggest upsets in recent FA Cup history on Thursday night at Premier League Everton? We preview their fifth-round match at Goodison Park...
Everton boss Frank Lampard has confirmed Ukraine international full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko will start against Boreham Wood.
Mykolenko joined Everton from Dynamo Kyiv in January and has hit the headlines this week for condemning Russia captain Artem Dzyuba and his team-mates for their silence on the country's invasion of Ukraine.
Lampard stressed the 22-year-old has the club's backing, saying: "He will play and that was a decision I'd made regardless of the outside situation. It feels like the training and the potential of playing is a relief for him.
"The conversations I've had with him I'd rather keep private because they are delicate, but at the moment we're giving him all the support and I'm sure he feels that from our end.
"He's also a new player here so there's so many things that have happened to him, let alone moving over here as a young man, coming to a different country, a different city and a different football club.
"He's now having to contend with all this so he has all our support on that front."
Academy graduate Tyler Onyango (hernia) is the only fresh injury concern for Lampard ahead of Thursday's match.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss out with an adductor complaint, while January signings Dele Alli, Donny van de Beek and Anwar El Ghazi are all cup-tied.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Demarai Gray are available for selection after overcoming groin and hip problems respectively to make their comebacks in the defeat against Manchester City on Saturday.
Ben Godfrey (hamstring), Yerry Mina (quadriceps tendon), Fabian Delph (thigh) and Tom Davies (hamstring) remain absent.
Boreham Wood boss Luke Garrard will not stop his players swapping shirts with Everton's - because he has his eye on Lampard's clobber.
Many lower-league managers clamp down on their players exchanging shirts with top-flight sides, claiming it shows the opposition too much respect.
But Garrard is having none of that, especially after defender and Toffees fan Kane Smith memorably celebrated on the pitch at Bournemouth with a replica shirt of his hero, former Everton full-back Tony Hibbert.
"I'm taking Frank Lampard's shirt off his back! His zippy, his ball. I'm getting everything," Garrard said.
"Seriously, though. This isn't too much respect. We've done our analysis on them. So the respect's there. Hugely. I'm not foolish in any way, shape, or form. They are unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
"These are international players playing week in week out the highest level. So trust me, there's a huge respect."
Garrard revealed Toffees counterpart Lampard sent him his congratulations after they sealed their trip to Merseyside.
"He texted me after the Bournemouth game and I think he's a class individual," he added.
"Just to have the luxury of five minutes with him before the match or potentially an hour afterwards, I'm really looking forward to it.
"We can all talk about his playing career, which is amazing: Champions League winner, what he achieved with England, and obviously his managerial career, but to do what he did for me was incredible and shows you the measure of the man.
"It was just on a coach-to-coach level. He wanted to congratulate us on our result at Bournemouth and say that he was looking forward to welcoming us to Goodison.
"It was just a real nice message which you don't expect from a Premier League manager."
The draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals will take place on Thursday just before Everton vs Boreham Wood, which kicks-off at 8.15pm, with the draw being conducted by England manager Gareth Southgate at Wembley.
