The 29-year-old has been a key player for Everton since arriving from Real Madrid in the summer, but he will miss the game against Chelsea at Goodison Park on Saturday

Everton will be without James Rodriguez for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Chelsea.

Toffees manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the massive injury blow during his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon as he must now devise a plan without the playmaker.

Furthermore, Everton have two other first-team players unavailable for the big game at Goodison Park.

One being captain Seamus Coleman who isn’t yet ready to make his return to first-team action after missing the last three games with a thigh problem.

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“Team news is that we have three players not available, one is [Seamus] Coleman,” Ancelotti told reporters.

“He has started to train with the team and is quite good, but I think that he will be available for the next game against Leicester on Wednesday.”

Ancelotti also confirmed that Fabian Delph will also miss the game after the midfielder suffered a hamstring injury in the 1-1 draw with Burnley last weekend.

But the biggest news is the absence of attacking midfielder James Rodriguez as the Italian tactician has stated that he doesn’t want to risk the 29-year-old against Chelsea.

“James is out, he had a little problem during the game against Burnley and was not able to train this week,” Ancelotti revealed.

“I think he will start to train next week.

“But for this game [vs Chelsea] we don’t want to take a risk