Moyes refuses to explain Grealish's Everton axing after discipline breach

Jack Grealish was excluded from Everton’s squad for their 3-1 Carabao Cup fourth-round win over Newcastle on Thursday night after the club cited “a breach of club discipline”, with manager David Moyes refusing to shed any further light on the matter.

The 31-year-old had already missed Everton’s 2-0 Premier League defeat at Arsenal on Saturday through illness. It is understood Grealish then failed to attend a training session in the days between those two fixtures, prompting the club to leave him out of the cup tie entirely.

“I’m not going to give any details and it’s a club decision and I support the decision,” Moyes said after the win at Goodison Park. “I don’t want to go into details.” When asked directly whether he felt let down by the winger, Moyes added: “It is something I don’t want to speak too much about.”

Moyes also declined to confirm whether Grealish would be available for Everton’s Premier League trip to St James’ Park to face Newcastle on Monday night, citing a reluctance to reveal team news.

Without Grealish, Everton were comfortable. Goals from James Garner, Hayden Hackney and Thierno Barry put the Toffees firmly in control before Dan Burn pulled one back as a late consolation for the Magpies. Moyes appeared to allude to the Grealish situation when praising his squad’s collective standards.

“The one thing about Everton is that they have got real good values, all the players stand behind it and accept the values, on the pitch and off the pitch,” he said. “The players did a good job tonight — it is a small squad but we are doing our best to keep challenging.”

Grealish is in his second consecutive loan spell at Everton from Manchester City, where he is in the final year of a £300,000-a-week contract. He has made eight appearances across all competitions this season without a goal or an assist. Last season he contributed two goals and six assists in 22 games for the Toffees.

Moyes had spoken publicly about his expectations of the former England international before the incident came to light. “Jack knows what I expect now,” he said. “We had lots of conversations last year. He knows when he comes here there is an opportunity for him to play and to show what he can do. But I also want him to be a senior professional and a role model.”