Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor said Alex Iwobi is only starting for Everton because of the absence of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin due to injuries.
The 35-year-old hit out at Iwobi because of his inconsistent performances after the Toffees suffered a 1-0 defeat to West Ham United last Sunday.
During the league match at Goodison Park, the Super Eagle missed a chance to put Everton ahead in the first half before Angelo Ogbonna headed home the only goal that separated the teams in the 74th minute.
This season, the former Arsenal youngster has struggled to make an impact for the Merseyside outfit, registering just one assist in seven Premier League games and his only goal came in a League Cup win over Huddersfield Town in August.
Agbolanhor, in his assessment, described Iwobi as a fluctuating player who is yet to cement his place in Rafael Benitez's squad.
"Iwobi is going to be Iwobi. He's always been that player from when he was at Arsenal," Agbonlahor told Football Insider.
"You look at Iwobi one day and he's the best player on the pitch. The next game he'll be the worst player.
"Iwobi is always going to be like that. He's not going to be one that gets a run of starts in the team.
"Arsenal are happy they sold him for the money that they did.
"At Everton, when everybody's fit, he'll be nowhere near that starting team. He's only playing now because of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin's injuries.
"He's always going to be up and down as a player."
It remains to be seen if the Nigeria international will make his fifth league start of the season with Richarlison declared fit and available for their Premier League outing against Watford on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Benitez revealed in his team update that Calvert-Lewin suffered a setback in his recovery from a quadricep injury which could see him miss action for another four or five weeks.
The Toffees are eighth in the league with 14 points after eight matches.
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