Everton will be without Mason Holgate, Phil Jagielka and Morgan Schneiderlin on Thursday night against Atalanta.
The Toffees host the Italian side in the Europa League group stages and have already been eliminated from the competition.
Careaker boss David Unsworth has been dealt the blow that three senior players will be unavailable for the mid-week clash, as cited by the club’s official Twitter account.
DU: "Mason is recovering from a groin injury." Jagielka and Schneiderlin unlikely to feature tomorrow – "hopefully they will train on Friday." #EFC https://t.co/XuY1DLehG4
— Everton (@Everton) November 22, 2017
Defender Holgate remains absent as he recovers from a groin injury, while the duo of Jagielka and Schneiderlin are out of contention despite playing at the weekend.
The Merseyside club drew 2-2 away to Crystal Palace on Saturday in the Premier League and will hope they can build some momentum with a result on the European stage.
Everton travel to Southampton on Sunday in their next league encounter and Thursday night could be the opportunity to rest some key players.
OPINION
With Everton’s fate in the Europa League already sealed they must consider resting a few of their top stars and keeping them fully fit for a huge fixture away to Southampton. The Toffees have now got to focus on Premier League survival and getting themselves back up the table to a more respectable position. They have majorly underperformed on the European stage this campaign and it has shown that the current crop of players are massively out of form. Thursday night could be the right time to give a few of Everton’s youngsters a run out and see if any can impress enough to earn a regular starting XI role.