Everton captain Phil Jagielka to undergo second scan on hamstring injury next week
Blues skipper to miss games with Crystal Palace and Southampton
Phil KirkbrideEverton FC Reporter
WATFORD, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 09: Troy Deeney of Watford and Phil Jagielka of Everton compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Watford and Everton at Vicarage Road on April 9, 2016 in Watford, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Phil Jagielka is due to undergo a second scan on his hamstring injury next week as Everton sweat on his fitness ahead of the FA Cup semi-final.
The Blues captain limped off in the final minute of Saturday's game with Watford, clutching his left hamstring and has already been ruled out of this week's games with Crystal Palace and Southampton.
Jagielka underwent a scan this week and though Roberto Martinez says the results remain inconclusive, the Everton medical team have made the decision that the 33-year-old can't train again until at least Monday.
The Blues captain will then undergo a second scan with Martinez hopeful of learning the full extent of the injury as Everton's Wembley date nears.
"Because we scanned it really early, just to try to see if we could use him straight away, the information is not very clear," Martinez said.
"We need to allow it to settle down. What's clear is that he can't be working or exercising until Monday and then we will assess him, we will re-scan him and have a clear idea of the extent of the injury at that point."
Jagielka has endured rotten luck when it comes to playing at Wembley for Everton.
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Six days after firing the winning penalty in the 2009 semi-final shoot-out against Manchester United, the Everton defender ruptured an anterior cruciate knee ligament in a game with Man City.
And when Everton reached the semi-final three years later against Liverpool, Jagielka was an unused.
When asked if he was conscious of Jagielka's Wembley past and desire to be fit for April 23, Martinez said: "Maybe it is difficult to believe from the outside, but we have a real focus to go from game to game,
"The players know that the only way you can get into the next team-sheet is by playing well in the game before and at the moment we have a real focus with every game in front of us.
"I thought Jags' performed with an incredible leadership against Watford and as a centre-half, Watford is going to be one of the most demanding and most testing striking forces you are going to be facing and he performed really, really well.
"I think his focus was into that game.
"It is disappointing to lose the captain at this stage, it's not ideal but shows the strength of the squad when you have a full Argentinian international to come in and fill in. It is a sign of the strength of the squad."
Everton, meanwhile, have rated Tom Cleverley's chances of being fit to face Palace as 50-50 but are hopeful that Ross Barkley will recover from a knock to the knee in time for the game at Selhurst Park.
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