Everton will be without James Rodriguez for Saturday's Premier League clash against Chelsea.
Toffees manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the massive injury blow during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon as he must now devise a plan without the playmaker.
Furthermore, Everton have two other first-team players unavailable for the big game at Goodison Park.
One being captain Seamus Coleman who isn't yet ready to make his return to first-team action after missing the last three games with a thigh problem.
"Team news is that we have three players not available, one is [Seamus] Coleman," Ancelotti told reporters.
"He has started to train with the team and is quite good, but I think that he will be available for the next game against Leicester on Wednesday."
Ancelotti also confirmed that Fabian Delph will also miss the game after the midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw with Burnley last weekend.
But the biggest news is the absence of attacking midfielder James Rodriguez as the Italian tactician has stated that he doesn't want to risk the 29-year-old against Chelsea.
"James is out, he had a little problem during the game against Burnley and was not able to train this week," Ancelotti revealed.
"I think he will start to train next week.
"But for this game [vs Chelsea] we don't want to take a risk."
This will be only the second Premier League game James Rodriguez will miss since joining Everton from Real Madrid in the summer transfer window.
And it could be a good omen for Chelsea and Frank Lampard.
Without the Colombia international pulling the strings, Everton were beaten 2-1 at Newcastle United last month - although they have only won once in the four games since his return.
