• England player left out of squad to face Newcastle

• Grealish is understood to have missed training

Jack Grealish has been dropped from the Everton squad for tonight’s Carabao Cup tie against Newcastle over a breach of club discipline.

Everton took the unusual step of announcing that Grealish’s omission was for disciplinary reasons on social media, after listing David Moyes’s team for the fourth-round tie at Hill Dickinson Stadium. The club posted on X: “Jarrad Branthwaite remains sidelined for a second successive game due to concussion protocols, while Jack Grealish is unavailable for selection due to a breach of club discipline.”

It is understood the 31-year-old missed training on Monday without permission.

Grealish returned to training at Everton’s Finch Farm complex after Monday’s absence but is expected to be fined for his unauthorised absence earlier in the week. The playmaker had missed Everton’s defeat at Arsenal on Saturday due to illness.

The England international rejoined Everton on a season’s loan from Manchester City this summer and had started in four successive games for Moyes’s side prior to Arsenal. Everton paid £12m in total to have Grealish on loan last season and are paying a similar sum for this campaign. He will become a free agent at the end of this season when his lucrative contract with City expires.