Yerry Mina limps off 30mins into his return from injury - Rafa Benitez gives diagnosis

Yerry Mina’s long-awaited return from injury lasted just 31 minutes as the Everton defender limped off during the first-half of Monday’s night’s 2-1 Premier League win over Arsenal.

The Colombian, who had been sidelined with a hamstring injury since October, was one of two changes manager Rafael Benitez made to the side that was thumped 4-1 in the Merseyside derby last Wednesday.

Mina came in for Lucas Digne, who was not part of the matchday squad, while the other change saw the injured Salomon Rondon replaced by Anthony Gordon.

But centre-back Mina, who returned to full training last week, had to be replaced by Mason Holgate just after the half-hour mark and headed straight down the tunnel.

What is Yerry Mina’s injury?

The good news for Everton fans is that it doesn’t appear to be a re-occurrence of the hamstring or knee issues that have kept the defender sidelined this season.

Speaking after the match, Benitez told the club’s official website: “To be fair, Yerry is a lad that has had bad luck with injuries.

“He was coming back after nearly one month with a problem with his hamstring but today it’s a problem with his calf.

“We have to assess him. He’s really down now but hopefully he can recover quickly.”

Everton’s form with and without Mina

Everton made an impressive start to the Premier League season with Mina in the starting XI - losing just once in six games.

There were three wins and two draws in that run but since the 27-year-old helped the Toffees collect a share of the points at Manchester United in his last Premier League outing on 2 October, they had not won a game.

In fact, Benitez’s side had picked up just one point from a possible 21 heading into Monday’s clash with Arsenal.

There have been other key absences too, of course. Richarlison missed four matches with a knee injury, Abdoulaye Doucoure was out for almost the entirety of November and Dominic Calvert-Lewin remains sidelined.

It’s little surprise that Benitez wanted Mina back in the starting XI as quickly as possible and it remains to be seen how long his star defender will be out with his ankle issue.