Mina may return for Everton after international break

After a miserable month of injury news Everton boss Rafa Benitez has hinted Yerry Mina might be ready to return after the upcoming international break.

This news couldn’t have been better timed for Everton given Mason Holgate is now out for three games after his red card against Spurs.

The Colombian defender has been out and unavailable since he returned from the previous break and a stint representing his country in World Cup qualifiers. At least as he’s already hurt Mina can’t pick up a fresh problem playing in this break!

These international breaks have proved to be a real pain for the Blues’ over the last two seasons and a source of constant injury problems.

Let’s hope that once the World Cup is out of the way next year, we will see fewer of these issues over the next few seasons as football settles down again to something like it’s normal rythym.

Last season it was the first of these breaks that interrupted the Toffees’ great start to the campaign and with a series of injuries starting after it, the team never recovered that initial form or momentum.

Again, this time round it’s proved to be the same. A good, solid start to Benitez’s controversial reign has been undermined by the injury jinx that Everton always seem to fall foul of, linked to the constant interruptions for internationals.

This has of course exposed again and again the horrendous lack of depth in the squad after so many wasted transfer windows.

Evertonians have rightly been frustrated and angered by the recent collapse in form and the terrible performances against Watford and then Wolves in particular.

But to be fair, it must be acknowledged that the team had lost it’s central spine with Mina joined by Abdoulaye Doucoure, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all on the treatment table over the past few weeks.

That’s the best four outfield players in this Blues’ squad out injured at the same time, including arguably the top performing midfielder, Doucoure, in the country. Not only is it impossible to imagine any other club having this much bad luck, but almost any team losing the spine of their side in this way would surely struggle to cope.

Richarlison has returned and now it looks as though his fellow South American Mina could well be edging closer to fitness and might be able to come back into the team when the Premier League returns in just over ten days time.

Mina’s injuries have been a constant feature ever since the tall Colombian centre-back joined Everton back in 2018 after starring in the World Cup.

Along with these regular injuries, Mina has sometimes not made the most of his considerable strengths and hasn’t been as dominating as a player of his size and ability should be.

This season though he has been delivering strong and determined performances and crucially in a side so often lacking it, he has also shown leadership and a willingness to do the dirty work in the trenches necessary sometimes in football matches.

One obvious example was the 2-2 draw at Leeds when Mina’s personal battle with the Yorkshire club’s striker Patrick Bamford distracted the forward and marginalised his impact on the game. It was good, old-fashioned defending.

Perhaps the best illustration of Mina’s impact is how much the team have struggled recently at the back without him in the side.

Mina’s Everton future has seemed in some doubt for a while and it does look likely that the club will try and sign another central defender in upcoming transfer windows.

But, for the moment, it will be something positive if the Toffees’ do have their Colombian defender back and ready to play again when the season resumes as recent results have underlined that this side can’t afford to be without it’s best and most experienced players.