Early Everton team news v Crystal Palace: Nine players could miss out – Injury Expert Ben Dinnery
Everton could be without up to nine players for their Premier League showdown against Crystal Palace on Thursday evening, according to Ben Dinnery.
The injury expert has shared early team news with Andros Townsend, Fabian Delph, Yerry Mina and Nathan Patterson all 100% ruled out, along with the suspended Salomon Rondon and Jarrad Branthwaite.
Ben Godfrey, Donny Van de Beek and Michael Keane are then described as 50/50 to make the squad for the game where a win would secure Premier League safety.
Frank Lampard isn’t going to be able to do this the easy way.
With Branthwaite adding to our major headache in central defence, there will be big hope that Keane can recover from his illness in time that saw him miss out last time.
Van de Beek and Godfrey have been wrestling with muscle problems, so they may not be risked unless they are fully fit and ready to go to minimise recurring injuries.
That would then leave them with all eyes on a return to the squad on the final day trip to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon, where we may need a win to secure safety.
Problems.
Those two red cards have certainly not helped.
We are now in a position where we may only have 11 senior players and little experience to bring off the bench to change the game if it isn’t going the way we would like.
The bench against Brentford wasn’t great, but at least there were some old heads to come on once everything started going downhill with those red cards.
Lampard has decisions to make, and if none of these recently injured players returns, he will have to bring a couple of academy graduates into his squad.
This isn’t the time for that given the situation we are in, but thankfully, it is currently in our own hands to go and secure our safety, unlike Leeds.
It is time for the likes of Dele Alli to finally stand up and be counted, with players dropping like flies around him, there would be no better time than Thursday.
In other Everton news, Simon Jordan has shared a potential catastrophe waiting to happen at Goodison Park this season
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on Everton plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell