Everton skipper Phil Neville faces two months out with a knee injury.

Manager David Moyes confirmed that his club skipper and former England utility player Neville had surgery the day before the Premier League fixture at Reading.

"He (Neville) had an operation on his knee yesterday that could keep him out for six to eight weeks," he said.

"His leadership was missed but we were missing quite a lot of senior players today and you could see that by our bench. Thomas Hitzlsperger did OK, not too bad."