James Rodriguez has been sidelined for Everton’s clash with Chelsea.
The Colombia international misses out on Saturday evening’s showdown between the Blues and the West Londoners due to a calf problem.
Rodriguez is one of three players in Carlo Ancelotti’s side who will be absent for the visit of the Premier League’s third-placed team to Goodison Park.
He picked up the injury concern during last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Burnley and is joined by Fabian Delph, who limped out during the game itself.
“We have three players not available, one is [Seamus] Coleman,” confirmed Ancelotti.
“He started this week to train with the team, he’s quite good but I think that he will be available for the next game against Leicester on Wednesday.
“We have Delph out, who suffered an injury against Burnley.
“We have James out, who had a little problem in the game against Burnley. He was not able to train this week, I think he will start to train next week.
“For this game, we don’t want to take a risk.”
Ancelotti also revealed that while Rodriguez’s injury was ‘nothing special’, Everton will monitor his condition ahead of next week’s trip to Leicester City.
He added: “He had a charge on his muscle after the game, on his calf, after the game against Burnley. Nothing special, he was not able to train.
“I don’t want to take a risk with a player who was not able to train this week.
“We have to look at him after the game to see if he will be able to train and play against Leicester.”
In spite of a growing casualty list, which includes left-back Lucas Digne, the Italian believes his squad still has enough confidence to take on Chelsea.
“I’m not used to complaining about the players who are not available,” he admitted.
“The players who are available trained well and are in good condition.
“We understand that there will be an important moment and test, not only tomorrow but in this period of December.
“So I think we arrive at the game with confidence and motivation.”