Fringe England International Phil Jagielka has been ruled out of the upcoming FA Cup Final and has unfortunately had to undergo the same surgery to repair a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament that teammate Mikel Arteta had to have after the defender went down at the weekend during Everton’s 2 - 1 defeat to Manchester City at home at Goodison Park.

Via Guardian 

The 26-year-old admitted that he “cried and cried and cried” when he realised the injury would rule him out of the FA Cup final against Chelsea.

Phoned in advance by team-mate Mikel Arteta, who himself suffered a similar setback earlier this season, Jagielka underwent the operation in London yesterday.

“Mikel rang me and it was nice to speak to him,” he said. “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.

“Mikel would probably have been our player of the year if he had kept on playing the way he was,” he added. “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. “It went really, really well,” he said. “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.”

Image via EvertonFC