Yerry Mina has been ruled out of Everton’s clash with Watford.
Mina was an unused substitute in last weekend’s defeat to West Ham after returning from a triple-header with Colombia during the international break.
The centre-back had been due to make his return to action in Saturday’s visit of the Hornets but suffered a hamstring issue in training earlier this week.
Additionally, Benitez confirmed on Friday that Mina is ineligible for the game due to following Covid guidelines after returning from a ‘red list’ country.
He said: “Always I say that I don’t like to lie, so when I cannot give you an answer I will not.
“Yerry Mina was playing three games, 90 minutes, with the national team. Coming back, he has to follow the Covid rules.
“He felt a little bit his hamstring in training the other day so he will not be available.
“It’s what we have now with so many trips around and the rules we have to follow, so he cannot be as important as you say for this game.”
The Everton manager also expects Dominic Calvert-Lewin to be out of action for an extended period after suffering a relapse in his road to recovery.
Calvert-Lewin has not featured since the late-August win over Brighton after he played through a quadriceps injury in the opening weeks of the campaign.
“Dominic has a re-injury,” added Benitez.
“How long he will be out, it depends on how he reacts to the treatment. We will not see him for four or five weeks and we’ll see later on what is going on.
“It’s important to see how the player is improving and how he feels. We are trying to be sure we can improve every department and find solutions.”