Everton have confirmed ahead of Thursday evening’s meeting with Aston Villa that Yerry Mina is ‘not available’ and Fabian Delph is still ‘sidelined’, but Mason Holgate and Andre Gomes are ‘fit and available’ to potentially start. Jean-Philippe Gbamin is doing rehabilitation on his Achilles and Cenk Tosun is recovering from his anterior cruciate ligament injury. Everton are coming off the back of two defeats and a draw from their last three games, so the return of Holgate and Gomes comes at a good time.
Holgate suffered a shin injury which caused him to miss last Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton and Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gomes suffered an ankle injury which caused him to miss the Wolves defeat. The pair have been training for days leading up to Thursday’s meeting with Villa, however, so they should be in good condition.
Unfortunately, Delph hasn’t returned. He’s still struggling with a muscle injury that has kept him out of action since March. The £10.8m-rated midfielder’s last appearance came back in February and he may not return before the season ends. Mina won’t be available either – the £18m-rated defender also has a muscle injury and was substituted 30 minutes into the Wolves defeat.
Gbamin is out. He’s working on his recovery and isn’t expected to be fit at the beginning of next season. Tosun is also out. He’s doing rehab on his knee and may not return at the start of the 2020/21 campaign either.