Leighton Baines Injury: Updates on Everton Star's Ankle and Return

Everton's Leighton Baines missed the Toffees' 2-2 draw against Watford on the opening matchday of the 2015-16 Premier League season after reinjuring his ankle, and the England international could be out for a significant amount of time.

Continue for updates.

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Baines Reinjures Ankle in Training, Return Date Unknown

Saturday, August 8

Toffees manager Roberto Martinez confirmed the full-back missed his team's first official match of the season because of injury, calling the unfortunate incident a "disaster," via the club's official Twitter account:

The 30-year-old had surgery on his ankle in May, as reported by the Daily Mail's Dominic King, in order to fix an issue that had been bothering him for years. The same ligaments took a knock on Friday, however, and while it's unclear whether the star defender will require additional surgery, he is certain to miss the upcoming matches against Manchester City and Southampton. 

It's also bad news for England, who will face Switzerland and San Marino in September as part of the qualification process for Euro 2016. Even if Baines returns to the pitch by that time, his form will lag behind that of his team-mates.

Widely regarded as one of the top full-backs in England, Baines struggled for much of the 2014-15 season after an inconsistent showing at the 2014 World Cup. Both the player and Everton are looking for a bounce-back campaign in 2015-16, and this is not the way either party would have wanted to start the season.