Everton: Yerry Mina injury and Lucas Digne fallout could open the doors for £18 million man

Everton defender Yerry Mina suffered another injury while Lucas Digne was left out of the squad

Everton received an injury boost as Mina returned to the side after missing seven games, last appearing before the October international break. Mina has had perilous encounters with injuries. Ever since he joined Everton from Barcelona, the Colombian has missed 38 games for the club. He has been a top performer at times but his injury record casts major doubts.

Benitez said that Mina trained with the group ahead of the Arsenal tie and he would be assessed before the game and if he’s fit, there’s a good chance he would feature. His return to the pitch lasted only for 31 minutes as he picked up a calf injury. After the game, the Spanish manager stated that he wasn’t forced early into the team.

"He has a problem with his calf, not with his hamstring. So it is something different. There are some players who we know are injury prone. We saw he was fine, he was training well, he was ready. If you told me he had a calf problem then he would not have been ready but he was doing everything, he was training really well during the week. In this case we were 100% sure he was ready and this is another type of injury. (via Liverpool ECHO)"

The time frame is not revealed yet but the Colombian could be out for a few weeks which could be a huge blow ahead of the jam-packed festive fixtures.

Left back Digne had been an integral part of the squad and rarely missed a game if not forced due to injury. His absence posed a different worry before Benitez made a blunt admission as th Frenchman’s omission was not due to the injury.

The former Barcelona defender has been Everton’s top player in the Moshiri era but his recent displays have been dull, an embodiment of the team’s performance. As per Daily Mail, Digne had a fall out with the manager as the duo had an argument and the relationship between the player and manager was straining further.

It is unclear whether the 28 year old will return to the lineup for the Crystal Palace game but with Digne not being selected, Ben Godfrey could operate from the left back. The former Norwich City man did a fine job against the Gunners.