Carlo Ancelotti refused to be drawn on Everton's interest in Fikayo Tomori but confirmed the club may need to sign a new centre-back.
Jarrad Branthwaite added to the Blues' defensive headache by coming off with an ankle injury after just 25 minutes of tonight's Carabao Cup win over Salford City.
Ancelotti does expect to have Mason Holgate back sooner than he thought after it was confirmed the 23-year-old does not require surgery on his injured toe.
The Everton manager, however, was unable to offer a timescale on Holgate's return, simply saying he could be back "earlier" than anticipated.
“Holgate is out and Jarrad we don't know his injury and how bad it is, we have to look tomorrow,"Ancelotti said, following the 3-0 second round win.
"There is a possibility to find a centre-back and I think we have to do so."
Asked specifically about Chelsea's Tomori, he replied: “I am not talking about players that are not here."
And on Holgate, Ancelotti said: “The Holgate update is that he doesn't need the surgery so maybe he can recover earlier than normal but I think we can manage until Mason comes back with three [senior] centre-backs no problem.”
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