Frank Lampard hopes the injury suffered by Ben Godfrey is not serious after he was withdrawn from the Everton starting line-up ahead of their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
The centre-back was due to start at Anfield but suffered a quadriceps injury in the warm-up, eventually being replaced in the side by Michael Keane. The visitors went on to lose thanks to second-half goals from Andy Robertson and Divock Origi.
Everton boss Lampard admitted after the game he did not yet know how long the issue was due to keep his centre-back out-of-action for. However, he did praise the performance of his replacement in what was a high-pressure situation before kick off.
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He told his post-match press conference: "Bad luck, muscle injury. I never second guess them, same as Donny [van de Beek].
"I have to say, Michael Keane comes in 20 minutes to go before a game against Liverpool’s attack - and it was a compliment to him how he handled it.
"No idea [on length of Godfrey's injury]. We're hoping it's minor."
Godfrey's issue becomes the second time in the space of a month that Everton have suffered an injury to one of their starting players in a warm-up. Van de Beek was also removed from the line-up to take on West Ham United at the beginning of April and was replaced by Mason Holgate in midfield.
