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Another injury blow to Benitez and Everton

By Matt Townsend

BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA - OCTOBER 14: Yerry Mina of Colombia reacts during a match between Colombia and Ecuador as part of South American Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 at Estadio Metropolitano on October 14, 2021 in Barranquilla, Colombia. (Photo by Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images)
BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA - OCTOBER 14: Yerry Mina of Colombia reacts during a match between Colombia and Ecuador as part of South American Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 at Estadio Metropolitano on October 14, 2021 in Barranquilla, Colombia. (Photo by Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images) /
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It never rains it pours is the saying and that’s certainly the case as far as Everton and injuries this week are concerned as now it’s Yerry Mina turn to get hurt.

The Colombian centre-back has returned to Everton after the latest international break in which he played three times and now has apparently picked up a muscle injury, compounding all the bad news on the injury front that have plagued preparations for Saturday’s clash with Watford.

We’re running out of words to describe this situation. It’s getting beyond a joke the number of injury problems the Toffees are dealing with and Mina is the latest in a seemingly endless list of players suffering one problem or another.

Mina wasn’t necessarily going to start at centre-back tomorrow given that he had returned from South America and so he could have anyway still been recovering from the trip and succession of games before picking up this knock.

But, I’m sure Benitez would have liked to have the chance to pick Mina and have him available on the bench if not in the starting eleven.

In truth, Mina is a player who has had more than his fair share of injury problems during the course of his Toffees career (mind you what current squad players haven’t!) and stories about his potential exit have continued for a while now.

At any rate he’s out for tomorrow and possibly quite a while more now as well, depending on how bad his injury is.

He joins Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Abdoulaye Doucoure as other usual starting first-eleven players on the long-term injured list. Both of those two look likely to be unavailable for at least a month or so.

On one welcome positive note Benitez has confirmed again today that Mina’s fellow South American Richarlison is ready to play against Watford although his match fitness is obviously an issue.

This presumably means that Micheal Keane and Ben Godfrey will continue as the starting centre-back pairing against the Hornets.

It is good for Godfrey to get more time in his main position at centre-half and hopefully Keane will replicate the solid performance he produced against West Ham.

Tomorrow’s match represents a good chance to return to winning ways for Everton but it could be a potential banana skin as well.

Anyway, hopefully this wont be the case as the Blues really need the points despite all the relentless setbacks they keep suffering.