Bernard was due to start for Everton against Manchester City on Wednesday evening before pulling out in the warm-up.
The 27-year-old picked up a knee injury after colliding with Yerry Mina and had to be replaced by Tom Davies. There’s been no official diagnosis on his injury, but Carlo Ancelotti has played down the seriousness and hopes to have him back “quickly”.
Ancelotti told Phil Kirkbride of the Liverpool Echo: “I don’t know but I think it is not too serious but we are going to check tomorrow. He had the contact with Yerry Mina in the warm-up and was not able to play. He had a lot of pain and so we changed. I hope he can recover quickly.
“It didn’t change a lot. We lost more quality in front but Thomas played on the left and defensively he works for the team, he could do better in passing forward, but it didn’t change the plan, honestly. It was unlucky, we were unlucky.”
Liverpool Echo say Bernard will undergo tests at Finch Farm on Thursday before an official update is released by Everton. The Brazilian international has made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring and creating three goals, but he’s been short of playing time in recent months.
Bernard’s last outing came in Everton’s 1-0 win over Burnley (December 26), but he’s featured just four times since late-October. The Toffees do suffer in his absence, having picked up just seven points from the nine Premier League games he’s missed this season, so Everton will hope he makes a swift recovery.
Whether the 27-year-old returns in time to face Liverpool in the FA Cup (January 5) remains to be seen.