Frank Lampard hopeful Everton defender Yerry Mina won’t need surgery
Everton will be without Yerry Mina for 8-10 weeks, but Frank Lampard says they’re hopeful that he won’t need surgery on his thigh injury.
The Colombian international replaced the injury Ben Godfrey against Brentford and scored, before starting against Newcastle in midweek and being forced off injured in the first half.
Lampard revealed the player would be missing for at least two months with the problem, but during his press conference ahead of a clash with Leeds he stated the club were ‘hoping’ he wouldn’t need surgery.
“We are hoping not,” he said. “Our feeling is not but he’s going to see a specialist in the next day or so to confirm. We’re hoping it will be non-surgery.”
Surgery would likely see the 27-year-old miss even more time on the pitch and plunges Everton’s survival hopes into further doubt.
Blow
The last thing Everton need right now is a lack of defenders as they try to battle against relegation with a new manager in place.
The club has had big injury problems all season, which even led to a shake-up of the backroom staff under Rafa Benitez, but they seemed to clear up a little recently.
Now though, with Godfrey missing for about six weeks and Mina for up to ten, Lampard is relying heavily on Michael Keane and Mason Holgate to stay fit and carry his team.
Mina’s form over the last 18 months has seen him become a leader of the team and an influential figure on the pitch, so his absence is likely to be more of a blow for Lampard.
The Toffees are now without arguably their two best centre-backs heading into a key part of the season, where they are desperate for points.
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