Source: Eurosport
Successful Op For Jagielka
Phil Jagielka's knee operation has been declared a success as the Everton defender comes to terms with missing the FA Cup final.
The 26 year-old underwent surgery in London on Wednesday to repair the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in the defeat by Manchester City last weekend, when he collapsed with no opponent near him.
The injury has ended the England international's season and therefore ruled him out of the Cup final showdown with Chelsea at Wembley on May 30.
Jagielka admitted that he "cried and cried and cried" when he realised that the greatest moment of his club career had been snatched from him.
And he received support from club-mate Mikel Arteta, the Basque midfielder having suffered a similar injury earlier in the season which has also ended his campaign.
Arteta telephoned the former Sheffield United defender to wish him well earlier in the week.
Jagielka said: "Mikel rang me and it was nice to speak to him.
"He was there at Wembley for our semi-final win over Manchester United to
see us get through, but he was obviously gutted that he wouldn't be there in the team for the final.
"Now I'm in the same boat, so it's nice that I've got someone going through a similar situation. He is obviously a month or two ahead of me (with his rehabilitation) so he can help me and guide me along the way when I'm feeling down."
He added: "Mikel would probably have been our player of the year if he had kept on playing the way he was.
"He was a massive part of our team and we did struggle for a couple of weeks to find a way of playing without him.
"We have learnt to deal with it and hopefully they will learn to play without me now."
Everton's head physio Mick Rathbone travelled to the capital with Jagielka and observed the operation.
He said: "It went really, really well. The surgeon is absolutely delighted with it and the player's rehab can start more or less straight away.
"We never put a timescale on this type of thing but we're looking forward to having him back as soon as possible next season."
