Frank Lampard responds to whether Everton will look to sign defender after double injury blow

Frank Lampard believes that Everton are OK in the short term despite suffering a double defensive blow - but did not rule out bolstering his options.

The Toffees saw both Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina limp out of their 1-0 loss to Chelsea on the opening day of the 2022-23 Premier League season.

Godfrey - replaced by Mason Holgate in the 18th minute - could be out for up to three months with a fractured fibula, while Everton will continue to assess Mina.

Ruben Vinagre came on in the Colombian’s place in the second half, with Vitalii Mykolenko switching to the three-man defence.

Lampard’s side had already been linked with a move for Wolves’ Conor Coady before Godfrey and Mina’s issues.

What’s been said

Asked by LiverpoolWorld if Everton will now consider dipping into the transfer market for a defender, Lampard replied: “Ben, we are thinking 2-3 months.

“That’s a really quick assessment so we’ll probably find that out in the next couple of days.

“Yerry, we have no idea. We are assessing that this evening.

“Mason comes on for Ben so we’ve got cover there.I brought Ruben on to be a bit more aggressive later in the game and put Myko left-sided centre-half so we can work there.

“Keano (Michael Keane) is there as well. He can work there and is a more-than solid member of the squad. So we have options to cover those areas.

“We’ve have to assess the injuries and, in the short term, we have options to play in those positions.”