Everton U21 coach Alan Stubbs admits Luke Garbutt is facing a long injury lay-off.

Stubbs revealed teenage left-back Garbutt will be out for up to 12 weeks after having an operation of his own on a troublesome ankle.

The youngster injured himself during last weekend's Under-21 game against Blackburn and saw a specialist earlier this week.

"Luke's had an operation on his ankle so it looks like he's going to be out for 10 to 12 weeks," Stubbs told evertontv. "It's been a really disappointing season for him from an injury point of view.

"He's had a hamstring injury and now this, so he's had a real bad run of luck. We're all disappointed for him but he's only a young lad and he's still got a bright career ahead of him."