Everton have been dealt a potential injury crisis in defence ahead of their trip to Burnley on Saturday.
The Toffees travel to Turf Moor outside of the relegation zone, despite receiving a 10-point deduction by the Premier League last month.
Three straight wins for Sean Dyche's men has moved them from joint-bottom to 17th in the space of a week, and they go into Saturday's clash five points clear of Burnley.
Had Everton not suffered their points penalty, they would be in the top half, just three points shy of the European places, after a run of nine wins in 13 games.
However, ahead of their battle at the bottom, Dyche has revealed that he will be without a number of first-team defenders for the encounter on Saturday evening.
Seamus Coleman remains out after picking up a slight knock on his return to the side following six months out, and that has been compiled by the news that Ashley Young will also be absent as he had to be withdrawn in the first half against Chelsea last weekend.
That means that Nathan Patterson is set to start at right-back, being Everton's only other senior option in that position, giving him the opportunity to start for the first time since late October when Young was suspended.
Everton's big crisis comes at centre-back though, with Jarrad Branthwaite out suspended, news broke earlier this week that Michael Keane is doubtful for the clash with a knock.
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While Keane is back in training ahead of the clash, it is still touch and go about whether he will be fit enough to start at the weekend.
Keane himself has not featured from the start in the league since a 4-0 loss at Aston Villa in August, which resulted in him losing his spot in the side to Branthwaite.
After being an unused substitute for the past six matches, the 30-year-old was not in the squad for the Toffees' 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.
Should Keane miss out, Everton's squad will be stretched even further, with Ben Godfrey the only other possible candidate who could come in.
There are problems in midfield too, as Idrissa Gueye picked up his fifth booking of the season against Mauricio Pochettino's side last week, ruling him out of this one.
That will once again leave Everton with no senior midfielders on the bench, with Amadou Onana, James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucoure all set to start.
In some promising news though, Andre Gomes is set to feature for the club's Under-21 side against West Bromwich Albion on Friday, as he looks to make a comeback after missing four months of action since returning from his loan spell at Lille.
Andrew Delaney
