Everton manager David Moyes will fine Lee Carsley for his red card against Preston as he comes to terms with the damage to the club's Barclays Premiership campaign created by their Carling Cup progress.

Moyes has seen his team, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, maintain third spot in the Premiership and knows that while he has to juggle one of the smallest squad in the top flight the loss of key players is a disaster.

He already has captain Alan Stubbs struggling with a calf problem and now Carsley will also be out after picking up a three-match ban - starting with Saturday's home game with Aston Villa - for retaliating in the Carling Cup third-round victory at Goodison Park.

Carsley will also miss the vital league game at Chelsea, who are just one point ahead of Everton, as well as the trip to Arsenal in the last 16 of the Cup.

Moyes is having to operate with a squad of 19 senior players and is far from able to do what Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal manage in cup ties by fielding completely different sides to protect their best players.

He said: "We can't operate like that so there is no point worrying about it.

"But what we cannot afford is to have injuries and suspensions, and now we will be missing Lee for three games."

However, Moyes was able to rest Thomas Gravesen and Nigel Martyn while using Tim Cahill and Marcus Bent for only the final few minutes against Preston.

He added: "We are concerned because we tried to use a few lads who did not play on Saturday.

"But as you can see, when you do leave top players in the side things can happen like they did and we ended up with Lee Carsley sent off.

"That is going to be costly to him and us. We have a small squad and we just cannot afford things like that.

"I am disappointed with Lee, he is not that type of lad. He was punched in the face and then had a kick at the lad later. The referee saw the retaliation and that was it. You should not retaliate, the referee saw it and you can't argue with that.

"Lee has been doing well, I am really disappointed we have lost him and it is really costly for us. He has been playing well and he is a big part of the team."

A daunting trip to Highbury lies in wait for Moyes' squad next but he said: "You never know what Arsenal will do by the time the tie comes around.

"They have been fielding young lads but by the next round they may decide they want to win it. Their side may be a lot stronger, you never know.

"A lot of clubs are taking the tournament a lot more seriously this season because it is so hard to win trophies and there are only so many with places in Europe.

"We will go to Arsenal with confidence. We are only just behind them in the league so why shouldn't we be confident?

"We do not have the luxury of fielding a whole new team in a cup tie. But with that luxury comes a whole lot of other problems as well because you have lots of players who are not in the first team week in, week out. They have that problem, we don't."