David Moyes admits Everton's top-four ambitions have have suffered as a result Kevin Mirrallas' injury layoff, Sky Sports report.

The Toffees have been without the Belgian attacker since November after he was forced off after half an hour in the win over Sunderland following a rushed comeback from a similar ailment the previous month.

Since losing the 25-year-old the Merseyside club have struggled, winning just four of their last nine Premier League games, dropping to fifth and being overtaken by Chelsea and Tottenham in the table.

Moyes admits Everton are finding it hard to score goals without the creative talents of Mirallas, who had scored twice and assisted five others in all competitions before he was sidelined.

"We've missed Mirallas giving us another edge. It might be that we've not really flowed as I would have liked attacking wise.

"It's shown in one or two results. We've missed him too long. It's a problem.

"He's probably missed the bulk of it, 10 or 12 weeks. He was a big part of what we achieved in that early part of the season when we were at our best and played some good stuff."
And Monday's visit to the south coast to face Southampton will come too soon for Mirallas to make another return but Moyes is optimistic he will be back sooner rather than later, saying: "He is getting close."
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