Yerry Mina injury: Everton defender again unlikely to be available vs Tottenham after big clue
Rafa Benitez’s side have missed the centre-back and might have to cope without him yet again against Spurs at Goodison Park.
Yerry Mina appears highly doubtful for a third successive Everton game.
The Toffees welcome Tottenham to Goodison Park on Sunday (14.00) in what'll beAntonio Conte's first Premier League game in charge of the Londoners.
Rafa Benitez's side are on a poor run of form, having lost their past three games.
A 1-0 defeat to West Ham was followed up with an abject 5-2 home reverse to Watford.
Then Everton suffered a 2-1 loss at Wolves on Monday night, with an insipid first-half performance ultimately their downfall.
Injury problems
The Blues badly missed four key players at Molineux - with Mina one of them.
The ex-Barcelona defender hasn’t played in any of Everton’s past three games.
Against West Ham, he was left on the bench after returning from international duty with Colombia just two days prior.
Then the centre-back was ruled out of the subsequent two fixtures after suffering a hamstring problem in training.
Abdoulaye Doucoure (foot), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (thigh) and Lucas Digne (muscle) are also currently sidelined.
Will Mina play against Tottenham?
Fans have been hopeful Mina, who's been Everton's best central defender this season, will be back for Spurs' visit.
However, he's looking likely to be unavailable once again.
That's because Mina has been left out of Colombia's 28-man squad for their upcoming 2022 World Cup qualifiers that begin after the Tottenham game.
Mina is a key player for Colombia, featuring in every minute of their three matches during last month's international break.
You’d think if there was a chance he could play any sort of part for his country in games against Brazil and Paraguay then the 27-year-old would be jetting off to South America.
Who will play at centre-back against Tottenham?
Central defence is proving somewhat of a problem position for Benitez in Mina's absence.
Michael Keane's form has taken a marked dip of late, while Mason Holgate was rusty at Wolves in what was his first appearance for more than a month.
However, Everton might have to stick with that partnership. The only other option is Ben Godfrey, but he deputised for the injured Lucas Digne at Molineux.
No time frame on Digne's return has been given.
Meanwhile, youngster Jarrad Branthwaite has not long returned from a hamstring issue of his own.
Eighteen-year-old Reece Welch, who’s yet to make a senior appearance, was instead among the substitutes against Wolves.