Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a boost ahead of their Premier League meeting with Everton on Saturday evening.

What's the talk?

In recent comments cited by the Evening Standard, Frank Lampard revealed that, despite initial hopes that Yerry Mina would be fit for the trip to Spurs this weekend - having not featured since the Toffees' 1-0 loss to Chelsea on the opening day of the season - the centre-back will now not be available on Saturday after picking up a "small calf injury" in training this week.

Regarding the condition of the 28-year-old, Lampard said: "Yerry has had a little bit of a setback this week and so won't be available."

Boost for Conte

While it is true that Everton have been particularly impressive in a defensive capacity even without the services of Mina so far this season - shipping just nine goals over their nine league fixtures, the joint-best record in the division - the absence of the Colombia international will nevertheless still come as a boost to Antonio Conte and his side ahead of the match.

Indeed, the £18m-rated talent has consistently impressed over his four full seasons at Goodison Park, earning seasonal SofaScore match ratings of 6.75 in 2018/19, 6.98 in 2019/20, 7.07 in 2020/21 and 6.84 last time out, ranking him as the Toffees' 12th-best, fifth-best, fifth-best and 12th-best performer in each respective season.

Furthermore, according to FBref, the £120k-per-week defender ranks in the top 14% of centre-backs in Europe's top five leagues and European competitions for both blocks and aerial duels won per 90 over the last 365 days, proving just how imposing a presence the 28-year-old is at the back.

As such, it is clear to see the news that the 39-cap international will not be fit to feature against Spurs this weekend will come as a big boost to Conte's chances of taking all three points back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - a result the 53-year-old will be desperate for in order to keep his side's top four hopes alive heading into the World Cup break.