Phil Jagielka in World Cup action for England against Uruguay
Phil Jagielka insists Everton won’t let the World Cup disruption undermine their start to the season.
The Blues lost their penultimate official warm-up game 3-1 to Celta Vigo at Prenton Park tonight, with neither skipper Jagielka, or Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas involved.
Roberto Martinez has had to provide individual fitness programmes for all his players involved in Brazil, with some requiring extra rest at the time they would ideally be preparing for the forthcoming campaign.
But Jagielka, who could not have played against the La Liga outfit anyway after suffering a minor knee injury against Porto, reckons the Toffees will find a way to get the right balance.
He said: “It’s always difficult. I’ve watched when lads came back a bit later from previous World Cups and it always is hard to get the miles in.
“It’s going to be a really strange start to the season because there’ll be a lot of press saying the lads won’t be ready or fit to do 90 minutes.
“I don’t think you will be exactly where you want to be. But the fact of the matter is that it’s a fine line between brining you back too early and you’re not getting enough rest; meaning you’re fine for the first two months of the season but by the time December comes you’re mentally and physically useless.”
Jagielka believes the extra time-off players like himself, Tim Howard, Lukaku and Mirallas were given will ensure the squad is ready to cope with the demands of extra fixtures later on in the season when the Europa League group stages, and the domestic cup action, gets under way.
“I’m hoping the extra week or so we got will help us get through it,” he said.
“It might not be the first game; although I actually fancy my chances of being fit enough to play.
“But further on in the season, and it’ll be a long one, that extra break will have given you the time you needed to shut off from the football world. Only time will tell.
“At the moment I feel good. I didn’t have my best game against Porto in the first 45 minutes but it’s not really going to effect my thinking.
“It’s part and parcel of pre-season – I haven’t won too many trophies in pre-season.
“It’s just a case of getting through it, and maybe judge us after the Leicester, Arsenal and Chelsea games and seeing how the lads look then.”
