Speaking ahead of Everton’s trip to Norwich City, Rafa Benitez has confirmed that Tom Davies is set to miss a substantial period due to injury.
Academy graduate and former England U21 international Davies has already made 158 senior appearances for the Toffees aged just 23.
But his 2021/22 campaign has been badly affected by injuries.
He picked up a knee injury against Spurs in November causing him to miss a number of matches, and then sustained a new injury in late December just as he was closing in on a return.
This hamstring problem required an operation, which Everton confirmed earlier this week had been successful.
It wasn’t clear how long his recovery time was expected to be until his manager gave an update on Friday afternoon.
“It is difficult to say,” responded Benitez after being asked about Davies [Evertonfc.com]. “With these type of things, you are expecting more than one month…it [how long he is out for] has to be decided by the surgeon and after, the physio.”
“But I am sure he will be out for one or two months.”
It’s a blow for Everton to be without the extremely talented midfielder for such a substantial period, and the player himself must be feeling frustrated.
He’s only managed seven appearances in a season in which he really would have been hoping to kick on.
Better news elsewhere for Toffees ahead of Norwich clash
It’s certainly not all bad news for Everton ahead of the trip to Norwich, though.
While Alex Iwobi is away on Nigeria duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, Benitez confirmed that everyone else had trained and was in with a chance of featuring against the Canaries, including new addition Anwar El Ghazi.
Although it’s unlikely that all of those who were previously out injured will start, the returns to fitness of Yerry Mina and Jarrad Branthwaite give Rafa more options at the back, while supporters will have been longing to see Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in the same matchday squad for some time.
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