Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar is out of the Premier League kickoff with a hamstring injury.

The South African, who managed just 11 appearances in the previous campaign and only one after December 15, sustained the problem in training and was left out of his side's friendly win against Hearts at the weekend.

"Obviously it was a really sad moment for all of us when Stevie picked up that injury in training," manager Roberto Martinez told evertontv.

"He's gone back now to be fully assessed by our medical team at Finch Farm and we'll get the results very soon.

"But it does seem it's a problem with his hamstring and clearly he's going to miss the start of the season, which is a real shame because Stevie worked with fantastic results and fantastic signs over the first three weeks of pre-season.

"We were very down about that situation and we hope to get Stevie back as soon as we can."