Leighton Baines will miss England’s upcoming international matches after having surgery on a long-standing ankle injury.
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The Everton man has endured pain in his ankle for the past three years and has taken the opportunity to undergo a procedure to ease the pain.
He was replaced due to discomfort as Roberto Martinez’s side were beaten by Sunderland at Goodison Park last weekend, and the club’s medial staff have decided to opt for surgery.
“Leighton had a little bit of instability in his ankle and in the last two weeks it flared up,” began coach Martinez, as reported by the Independent.
“Against Sunderland the pain he was having was intolerable,” he concluded.
However, the 30-year-old is now set for over a month and a half on the sidelines, meaning he will miss both the Toffees’ final two games of the season and England’s upcoming fixtures.
The former Wigan Athletic man will be absent for both the derby against the Republic of Ireland and the European Championships qualifier against Slovenia.
Luke Shaw is unlikely to be available as he is set to feature with Gareth Southgate’s U21 side at the youth European Championships this summer.
This will leave the likes of Ryan Bertrand, Kieran Gibbs and Danny Rose fighting it out for the left-back berth.