Thursday 9 October 2014 13:41, UK
Everton defender John Stones needs an operation on his injured ankle and could be out until the New Year.
Stones damaged ligaments during Everton's Premier League defeat at Manchester United on Sunday and later withdrew from the England squad.
And Roberto Martinez has revealed the 20-year-old will be out for anything between 10 and 14 weeks.
The Everton manager told the club website: "John will need surgery, which will give us a perfect recovery for his left ankle. We expect him to be out for probably the next 10 to 14 weeks depending on how everything goes.
"It’s a clear injury – not a complicated injury. Obviously, it’s a little bit of a setback because you don’t want to lose any players, but in John’s case we were very worried in the moment that it happened because those injuries can become a little bit difficult to treat.
"But this one is going to be straightforward and we are already counting down the days for him to come back and we’ll make sure he comes back stronger and ready for the final and most important part of the season."
