Yerry Mina was preferred to Michael Keane for Everton's game with Manchester City in order to help the team be as "aggressive" as possible.
Keane's omissions from the starting XI for last night's FA Cup quarter-final tie at Goodison raised eyebrows and came just days after his England snub.
Keane has been a key player for Everton this season, starting all but three of the Blues' 28 league games but was on the bench for the visit of City.
And Carlo Ancelotti has explained why he recalled Yerry Mina to the team at Keane's expense.
"We wanted to play with three at the back and need to have more players like Mason Holgate, more aggressive to try and press forward," he said.
"And so it was a choice between Yerry Mina and Michael Keane.
"Michael has played a lot of games and so we wanted to give him a rest."
