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Everton FC boss Roberto Martinez admits his side will miss injured Ross Barkley after revealing the Blues midfielder could be out of action for up to FIVE months.

He said: “Ross Barkley is a phenomenal footballer and we’re going to miss him. There are no two ways about it.

“He was so sharp in pre-season. I thought he came back with a different approach and a different mindset.

“It is unfortunate to lose him through an innocuous challenge in training and now he’s going to be out for a long, long time.

“The squad should be big enough to be able to cope with losing a player injured and still be able to play well.

“But it is a disappointing moment when Ross Barkley was going to have a really important start this season.

“Now he’s just coping with that frustration, allowing him to work on other aspects and make sure when he comes back he’s fully fit and ready for whatever’s left of the season.”

Martinez added: “We had a scan but it’s a bit difficult to determine the extent. It’s a medial knee ligament in his knee. With the swelling we don’t really know how bad the injury is. We know it is a partial tear for the ligament.

“It could be anything from seven weeks to four or five months for injuries I’ve seen like that. We need to be a little bit cautious with the diagnosis at the moment.”

Everton began their season with a 2-2 draw at newly-promoted Leicester City and Martinez was left frustrated as his side were twice pegged back.

He said: “We only had ourselves to blame. We did everything we had to do. I thought we controlled the environment.

“You would expect a newly-promoted side with the fans behind them, full of enthusiasm, full of fight and bright approach to come at you but I felt we coped very well.

“We did the hardest thing in getting ourselves in front twice. It was a good goal from Aiden McGeady. I thought he took it well and looked bright.

“The second goal is very good because we combined well as a team.”

He added: “We should have gone for that third goal and played with a bit more brightness instead of just controlling the game.

“It’s difficult when you have a team that is trying to get on the ball and the tempo of the game dropped a lot.

“With six minutes to go we didn’t show enough concentration levels needed.

“I’m disappointed with the result. We started bright but we need to sharpen up.”