Carlo Ancelotti cools down worries about James Rodríguez's absence

James Rodríguez's start to life at Everton has been one with ups and downs. While the Colombian forward has been instrumental for the Toffees' push for European places, he has missed several games of the current season through niggling injuries, and tonight's clash against Southampton wasn't the exception.

However, manager Carlo Ancelotti has justified his and teammate Tom Davies's exclusions from the playing squad as he considered they needed to be rested for the immediate future, with Everton having to face West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea within the next week.

"They had little problems in training this week so I prefer to give them a rest to be ready for the next game," the Italian manager stated prior to the game against the Saints.

"We have a busy schedule, we play again on Thursday, but they will recover soon," he added. "They are really light problems."

Everton march on

Despite James's absence, the Toffees still managed to scrape a 1-0 win past Southampton to go level on points with crosstown rivals Liverpool and only two points behind Chelsea in fourth. Brazilian forward Richarlison scored the only goal to reach a tally of eleven so far this season, six of them coming in the Premier League.