Everton boss Rafa Benitez has confirmed Richarlison is fit and available for the Blues’ Premier League clash with Watford at Goodison Park on Saturday (3pm BST) – but Yerry Mina will miss the game with a minor hamstring problem.
Richarlison has been sidelined with a knee injury sustained in Everton’s 3-1 victory over Burnley on 13 September but returned to full training this week.
Benitez explained Mina “felt his hamstring” in a training session this week and is not in contention to feature against Watford.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Dominic Calvert-Lewin has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a quadriceps injury. Benitez said he expects the 24-year-old to be out for “four or five weeks” but did not want to put an exact timeframe on his recovery, adding: “It depends how he reacts to his treatment.”
Abdoulaye Doucoure is unavailable for Everton after suffering a stress response in a bone in his foot during Sunday’s match against West Ham United.
Andre Gomes also misses out as he continues his recovery from a calf issue. Fabian Delph returned to First-Team training this week but is unlikely to feature on Saturday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Benitez said: “We have some issues but we are bringing, little by little, back some players. Hopefully we have more coming soon.
“Richarlison has been training, he has been okay. Obviously, the match fitness is an issue. But he is happy and he is available.
“Yerry Mina played three games for 90 minutes with the national team [during the recent international break], then when coming back he has to follow the Covid rules... He felt a little bit his hamstring in the training session the other day, so he will not be available [for Watford].”
On Calvert-Lewin's situation, Benitez explained: “Dominic has a problem we have to sort out. How long he will be out, we have to see.
“It depends on how he reacts to the treatment but we will not see him for four or five weeks, it could be.
“We will see later on what is going on, I don’t like to put a timeframe. I think it is important to see how he is improving and how he feels.
“We have brought in Cristian Fernandez in as Rehabilitation Fitness Coach to be sure we can help the department with these kind of things.
“We are trying to be sure we can improve every department."
