Everton may add defender after Branthwaite injury: Ancelotti

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti says they may have to sign another central defender after Jarrad Branthwaite sustained an ankle injury in the 3-0 League Cup win over Salford City.

The 18-year-old was substituted in the 24th minute of the second round encounter and, with fellow defender Mason Holgate also out injured, Italian Ancelotti has only two fit senior centre backs in Yerry Mina and Michael Keane.

"Holgate is out and Jarrad we don't know his injury and how bad it is, we have to look," Ancelotti told reporters.

"There is a possibility to find a centre back and I think we have to.

"The Holgate update is that he doesn't need the surgery so maybe he can recover earlier than normal, but I think we can manage until Mason comes back with three centre-backs no problem," he added.

Media reports said Everton were targeting a loan move for Chelsea's Fikayo Tomori before the transfer window shuts on October 5.

Everton, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in their Premier League opener, host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Southampton have a lot of work to do to rediscover the form they showed towards the end of last season, manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said after they crashed out of the League Cup with a 2-0 home defeat by Brentford.

Southampton won five of their nine Premier League games - including a 1-0 victory against Manchester City - after the resumption of the 2019-20 season following the Covid-19 hiatus.

But Hasenhuettl's side have failed to pick up where they left off, falling 1-0 to Crystal Palace in their Premier League opener before Wednesday's loss to Brentford.

"At the moment some players are not at the level we have seen them in the past," Hasenhuettl told reporters. "We had no pre-season, no time to work together and we are physically at a different level than when we came back after lockdown.

"Definitely we are not in the position at the moment to play our game. It's very intense, we need to have fit players. There's definitely a lot of work to do."

Southampton host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.

- Reuters