Rafa Benitez has admitted he is still unclear on the strength of side he can pick for Everton’s League Cup clash with Huddersfield Town.
Rafa Benitez said: “I don’t want to lie, and I said so many times it depends on the squad and the situation. Obviously when we play games with this intensity then you have to consider how everything is. I would like to go through, I would like to play a strong team to compete and go through. Yes I would like to do that. Can I do it? We have to see if we have any knocks, any injury problems, and then see how the players feel. I like to go through, I like to do well, and I will try to pick a team that can do it. The schedule is too short now for us, a lot of players were coming back late from the Euros or the Olympics so we have to consider all of these things. We will look for solutions for different players until the 31st August.”
Everton have recently had a number of players absent from the squad as they have been isolating due to coming into close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case. James Rodriguez is one of those players, with a specific date for his return to Finch Farm not being officially revealed. And Benitez was coy over whether the Colombia international would be risked for the match against Huddersfield even if he had returned to training in time.
Rafa Benitez added: “Don’t forget that we have some players in isolation, so we have to see when they come back and how they will be. Obviously if you are not training for 10 days with the team, it’s not easy that you will be fully fit for a game, it will be a risk. So have have to analyse all of these things before we make a decision.”
