Morgan Schneiderlin keen to make fresh start under Everton's new management

Allardyce, appointed as manager only last week, is not in Nicosia for Everton's dead rubber against Apollon Limassol due to a pre-arranged medical assessment and several key players have remained home, too, given the club's elimination has already been confirmed.

Wayne Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jordan Pickford are among them, with Allardyce conscious of Sunday's Merseyside derby, and Schneiderlin's presence on the other side of the continent could be interpreted as a reflection of his place in the Goodison Park pecking order.

The 28-year-old French midfielder has not started the previous two fixtures and last month both Schneiderlin and Kevin Mirallas, another also in Cyprus, were understood to have been left out of the squad to face Watford having been involved in a training-ground incident.

At the time Schneiderlin denied reports he was sent home due to concerns over his attitude and while once more dismissing that as "fake news" on Wednesday, he did admit he is keen to make a fresh start under Allardyce.

"First I read about it in the newspaper and I was as surprised as I could be because there was no incident," he said. "I made a statement on my social networks saying it was fake news and it wasn't true.

"I want to turn the page. It was not nice for me to see that and it is part of football. I have to deal with it.

"I want to prove (myself) in every game and of course there is a new manager coming in so it's a fresh start for everyone. I haven't had the chance to play the last few games and it is going to be up to me to show what I can do and that I can make a difference to the team.

"It needs to be the aim of everybody to show themselves and show that they can play. It is a chance to prove you can play."