Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that James Rodriguez will be out of Everton's match against Newcastle United this weekend.
The Colombia international has played every game so far this season for his new side, despite being initially listed as a doubt for the Southampton game after a challenge from Virgil van Dijk in the Merseyside derby a week previously.
However, the playmaker will now sit out of his side's trip to the North East this on Sunday to solve a "little problem" - ahead of potentially being back in action for the visit of Manchester United to Goodison Park.
Seamus Coleman will also miss this weekend's match, but the boss did have some good news on the injury front as well.
Ancelotti told his pre-match press conference: "We have Jonjoe Kenny and Jarrad Branthwaite back.
"We will not have James Rodriguez available, Seamus Coleman is out - and Richarlison and Lucas Digne are suspended.
"James played all the games but had a little problem. He needs to rest for this game, I think he will be available for the next game."
The Everton boss was also asked about a report published earlier this week which suggested that the amount of injuries so far this Premier League season has increased on that of previous years.
Ancelotti believes he knows the reason behind this, and he can understand why managers are concerned across the division.
"I saw the report," he added.
"I think that it's a really busy schedule. For us, we had a lot of games in September but this month after the international break we only have one game a week. So for us it's not so bad.
"But, for the teams that are involved in the Champions League and Europa League it's really busy. Of course, the fact that there are more injuries is for that reason.
*Who would you play in place of Rodriguez on Sunday? Have your say in the comments section.
"Of course the managers are concerned for this, I agree with this. It's a really busy schedule.
"You have to consider that most of the teams during the international break are going to lose players, so you're not able to give them a rest.
"It's really complicated and this is the reason there are more injuries, there's no doubt for this."
