James Rodriguez could be fit for Southampton match, says Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti

Watch Southampton v Everton live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event from 1pm on Sunday; kick-off 2pm

Friday 23 October 2020 16:11, UK

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti is hopeful James Rodriguez will be fit for Sunday's match at Southampton - just 24 hours after saying he expected the playmaker to miss the game.

The Colombia international sustained bruising in a challenge with Virgil van Dijk in Saturday's Merseyside derby but resumed partial training on Friday, and if he trains again on Saturday, there is a chance he could play at St Mary's.

"James is not definitely out," said Ancelotti. "He had a big haematoma and was not able to train until today. He is much better now and we have confidence that maybe he can play.

"Fortunately, I think his recovery was really good and he trained today - he had a partial training session.

"I hope he is going to train tomorrow and we will see if he is in condition to play on Sunday."

Ancelotti also confirmed new signing Ben Godfrey will make his full debut with right-backs Seamus Coleman (hamstring) and Jonjoe Kenny (ankle) unavailable.

"I think Ben played a good game [against Liverpool after coming on as a substitute for Coleman]," the Italian added.