Jack Grealish, the midfielder on loan from Manchester City to Everton, went out in London on the night after his side's home defeat to Arsenal last Saturday. He fell ill when he returned to training 48 hours later.
This left manager David Moyes without three of his most creative players: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is injured, and Iliman N'Diaye is representing Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
"It's not a particularly good result, but sometimes when you don't play well, you have to accept a point. We didn't play well enough today to deserve more. That's for sure. We always prepare well and try to do our best. I think Burnley have never been an easy team to play against at Turf Moor over the years. They got a good draw away to Bournemouth last week.
I think they (Burnley) are more confident. We never really got going from the start. Of course, that's not to say we didn't have chances, and their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves.
We did have one or two opportunities, but in the end, we gave the opposition too many chances today and didn't perform well enough.
We didn't have many chances, but you see, I don't think Burnley had many either. The game opened up a bit more in the second half, but both sides had very few chances in the first half."
"I could elaborate, but I don't think it's necessary," Moyes said when asked about Grealish's condition. “He has a bit of a cold and is feeling unwell. He trained with us on Tuesday but didn't feel right.”
However, Kyle Walker didn't feel unwell after celebrating Christmas with Grealish and friends. Even at 35, Walker showed no signs of being affected, putting in an energetic performance at right-back as Scott Parker's side sought their first win since October.
A point apiece meant little to either Parker or Moyes. Burnley are still six points adrift of safety, while Everton are firmly stuck in mid-table.
Nevertheless, Burnley manager Scott Parker could at least take some consolation from the fact that his team has slowed the slide towards a return to the Championship. After seven consecutive defeats, they have drawn their last two games.
"I think we showed real quality and fighting spirit," Parker said. "We were the team pushing for the win, but we couldn't take our chances—especially the good ones.
We've put in solid performances in our last two games. Last week at Bournemouth, we fought hard to get a point, but in this game, we gave it everything."
