Frank Lampard has revealed that Michael Keane missed Everton’s defeat to Brentford due to illness - but is hopeful he will return when his side take on Crystal Palace on Thursday night.
The Blues boss has also confirmed that his side will be without Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina for the game at Goodison Park as the pair remained sidelined due to injury.
Everton are facing a centre-back crisis after Jarrad Branthwaite was sent off in the 3-2 loss to the Bees on Sunday afternoon. Despite taking the lead through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the whole game changed when the young defender was given his marching orders after bringing down Ivan Toney as he raced clear on goal.
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The defeat at Goodison leaves Everton two points above the drop zone with two games to play. But Lampard is hopeful that Keane will be back available for selection for Thursday's match.
He said; “We will see. Michael was sick overnight, so we are hoping it is a short-term one and he will recover for Thursday. Otherwise, probably, our other centre-backs won’t be fit in time for that.”
The Everton boss then added: “We have three centre-halves out and it's very hard to sustain results like that. We will fight until the end no matter what bodies we have left.
"The first 20 minutes felt comfortable. The crowd were flying. No complaints about the players. We just have to rest a bit, stay positive. It's in our hands and we'll go again."
