News: Fellaini may not be fit for season's opener

Everton manager David Moyes says that he has worries over the health of midfielder Marouane Fellaini with the new season nearly here.

The Belgium international has been suffering with a virus during the close season which has resulted in significant weight loss.

Fellaini did manage 90 minutes in yesterday’s 2-2 draw at Coventry, but Moyes is not sure that the 21 year old will be fit enough to play Premiership football when the season starts on August 15th.

“Fellaini has had an illness for most of the summer which has affected him,” said Moyes. “He picked up a viral infection in the summer. It got into his blood, he lost a lot of weight and he wasn’t a boy that could afford to lose any weight.

“It’s noticeable looking at him how thin he has become. It has definitely had an effect on his overall performance.

“It is going to take a little while I feel for him to get his full strength back. I don’t think he is there yet. He has not been right all through pre-season and he is still not right.

“When you are the shape and build he is, when you lose weight it’s not all that easy to put it back on.

“Since he has come back we’ve been trying to get him built up, but the weight is not going back on at the moment.”