Tim Cahill's absence from the Everton squad for most of January cannot be helped according to manager David Moyes. The 31-year old attacking midfielder will link up with the Australian national team for next month's Asian Cup in Qatar, forcing him out of a number of Toffees' Premier League matches throughout late December and most of January.

Moyes says it will be tough without Cahill but concedes that nothing can be done about the situation.

"We sign African players and we accept that they will be away. But when we signed Tim Cahill, Australia were not in Asia's pool, they were in Oceania. So we didn't expect to be missing Tim Cahill," he told the Liverpool Echo.

"Tim is massively important for us. He is going to be a really big miss. I cannot do anything about it."

The biggest factor in Cahill's absence is that he has scored eight of the Toffees' 18 league goals this season.