Jarrad Branthwaite during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Everton at St. James's Park. Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

David Moyes described Jarrad Branthwaite as “fit and raring to go” as he gave a positive squad update ahead of Everton’s game with Brentford.

The centre-back missed the narrow defeat at Arsenal and did not start the win over Chelsea ahead of the international break, though he did come off the bench at Hill Dickinson Stadium in that latter match.

There had been concerns over his workload as Branthwaite continued his return from a five month lay-off with hamstring issues. But speaking at his press conference on Friday, Moyes suggested he had few doubts over the defender heading into the run-in.

The Blues boss also hinted that he had an almost full squad to choose from - a significant boost given Iliman Ndiaye and Vitalii Mykolenko missed international games during the break with injuries.

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Asked about the state of his squad ahead of Saturday's crucial...