James McCarthy is facing a fresh spell on the sidelines after Ronald Koeman confirmed that Everton will be without him for up to three weeks.
McCarthy limped out at the midway point of the Blues’ Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool after suffering a fresh hamstring injury in Monday night’s clash.
The Republic of Ireland midfielder will not be available for the Boxing Day trip to Leicester City due to as Everton look to bounce back over the Christmas period.
Koeman admits that McCarthy is unlikely to return until the New Year while goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg is also set to miss the encounter with the Foxes.
He said: “Maarten Stekelenburg will be doubtful for Boxing Day [and] James McCarthy’s out again.
“It’s a slight hamstring and that’s bad news because the boy was doing well.
“I’m a little bit worried about a lot of many this kind of injury but he will be out about two, three weeks.”
Koeman previously took issue with McCarthy’s conditioning after he returned ‘overloaded’ from representing Ireland earlier in the season.
And the Everton manager admits that the midfielder’s susceptibility to injury remains an ongoing concern following this latest setback.
“He was overloaded when he came back from Ireland,” added Koeman.
“But I was really confident that James was on a good level of fitness and he showed that against Arsenal.
“There was no reason not to start him against Liverpool, so of course I’m worried about his fitness and his several muscle problems. But we need to wait.”