Frank Lampard has confirmed that Vitalii Mykolenko will start against Boreham Wood and provided an update on the fitness of Donny van de Beek.
Mykolenko’s native Ukraine has been invaded by Russia with the defender watching Saturday's defeat to Manchester City from the bench.
Everton have offered their full support to Mykolenko, who only joined the club in January from Dynamo Kyiv, with fans also unveiling a banner of support ahead the game with City.
And Lampard has revealed that the left-back was always set to start tomorrow’s game against the National League club at Goodison Park.
He said: "[Mykolenko] will play tomorrow. That was a decision I made regardless of the outside situation - purely on a football decision.
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"Of course, you have to be very aware of the life decision for him at the moment and he will play. We'll see about any kind of gesture but the fact is he's starting the game and that's the decision.
"I don't want to answer those questions for him [whether or not football is helping at the moment], but it feels like the training and potential of playing is a relief.
"The conversations I've had - I'd rather keep private, because they are delicate. But we're giving him all the support and I'm sure he feels that from our end.
"He's also a new player here. There are so many things that have happened to him - he's a young man coming over here, moving to a new country, different city, different football club and he's now having to contend with all of this.
"He has all of our support."
Midway through the second period of Saturday's 1-0 defeat, and after needing some treatment inside his own box, Van de Beek was replaced by Dele Alli.
Lampard admitted after the game that he hoped the Dutchman was just suffering with cramp, and now the Everton boss has revealed the on loan Manchester United midfielder has trained as normal this week.
"Donny's fine,” the Blues boss responded when asked for a fitness update on the midfielder. “He's been training this week"
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s game against Boreham Wood, Lampard also praised the patience Nathan Patterson is showing in waiting for his chance.
The right-back was the subject of two failed bids from Everton in the summer as they sought to bring in competition for Seamus Coleman.
And after months of speculation, a deal between all parties was finally reached just days after the January transfer window opened.
In a club statement, Everton stated Patterson had joined the club for an undisclosed fee, but the ECHO understands that the deal is worth an initial £11m, with add-ons.
Patterson is yet to feature for the Blues' first-team, but he did play for the club’s under-23 side against Tottenham Hotspur last month.
"He's showing great patience because he hasn't come knocking on my door,” Lampard said when asked about the youngster.
“He's come here at a young age to the Premier League, it's a big ask and he's a developing player. Of course he'll get his games. That's what we brought him here for.”
A win over Boreham Wood would move Everton to within one game of a semi-final showdown at Wembley - and Lampard has revealed one member of his squad is desperate to play at the home of English football.
He said: "I was speaking to Richarlison earlier and he was saying how desperate he is to play at Wembley - and that's because of its history."
