JAMES MCCARTHY’S TROUBLESOME hamsting struck again tonight during Everton’s Europa League clash with Wolfsburg.

The midfielder had to withdraw from the action on 31 minutes and was replaced by Leon Osman after the problem arose.

He was recently the subject of controversy, as Ireland assistant boss Roy Keane hinted that Everton were putting too much pressure on McCarthy to withdraw from international duty, with the 24-year-old missing games against Germany and Scotland as a result of recurring hamstring issues.

Meanwhile, with their progression to the Europa League knockouts confirmed before kick-off, Everton won 2-0 at Wolfsburg to ensure that they will top their group.

Romelu Lukaku stumbled but nevertheless forced his way through to finish on the counterattack as the Toffees took the lead towards the end of the first half, with the hosts having earlier had a goal chalked off due to an offside flag.

Wolfsburg had another such mishap when Nicklas Bendtner rightly had an effort ruled out and Lukaku then turned creator with a fine through-ball from which Kevin Mirallas advanced and slotted home a second, making up for an appalling Aiden McGeady miss just after the hour.

Additional reporting by Goal

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