Carlo Ancelotti faces up to 'big loss' with Everton missing two key players for Leeds United test
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Everton confirmed on Thursday that France international left back Lucas Digne had injured his ankle in training and Ancelotti says the 27-year-old could be looking at up to three months out.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Irish international right back Seamus Coleman who is captain for both club and country will also miss the Whites clash due to a hamstring injury.
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Hide Ad"Lucas Digne had an injury and it is a big loss because he is a fantastic left back, one of the best left backs in Europe at this moment," said Ancelotti at his pre-match press conference.
"It is a loss but we have to manage this.
"Unfortunately, during a season this can happen that you lose some important players.
"We have to be able to manage the situation and I think we will be able to adapt to the loss of Lucas Digne for two or three months.
"It was an unfortunate situation during the training and unfortunately this can happen."
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Hide AdAsked about Coleman, Ancelotti revealed: "Seamus Coleman is doing his individual rehab and he will not be available for this game.
"I hope soon he will be available. We have to check him week by week."
Assessing whether Everton could cope without the duo, Ancelotti reasoned: "I think so.
"We have a good squad, we have a good substitute in that position.
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Hide Ad"It's true that we have (Niels) Nkounkou who doesn't have experience in the Premier League but he showed good quality in the game that he played before.
"We have Jonjoe Kenny on the right that is an Everton player from the Academy so we have the possibility to substitute and we will try, of course we will try."
Ancelotti added that Kenny himself is "not 100 per cent fit" following an ankle problem but still in contention to feature against the Whites.
Midfielder Jean-Philippe Gbamin also remains on the comeback trail from an Achilles injury and is not expected back until another two weeks.
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