Everton defender Séamus Coleman to have surgery in Dublin after suffering broken leg against Wales

Everton defender Séamus Coleman will have surgery on his broken leg on Saturday (25 March). The Republic of Ireland captain sustained the injury during his country's goalless draw with Wales on Friday night and is unfortunately set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines.

Coleman's horrific leg break was caused by a tackle from Wales left-back Neil Taylor, who was shown a straight red card for his part in the incident. The 28-year-old's road to recovery will start immediately, as Sky Sports claim he will go under the knife in Dublin.

Footballers including Wayne Rooney and Hector Bellerin have extended messages of support to the Everton stalwart on social media, while there has also been widespread condemnation of Taylor's challenge.

The news comes as a huge blow to both Coleman and Everton, who harbour aspirations of challenging the top six during the dying embers of the Premier League season. Ronald Koeman's men will have to make do without the former Sligo Rovers starlet for the rest of the season, and the Toffees will almost certainly be without him for a large portion of the next campaign.

Everton were also dealt a major injury blow before the game had even kicked off as midfielder James McCarthy, who has been the subject of a club vs country row between Koeman, Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill and assistant manager Roy Keane, was injured during the warm-up before the game against Wales.

The former Wigan Athletic midfielder was carrying a hamstring injury before being called up for international duty and seems to have exacerbated the problem further.

O'Neill played down concerns over the Everton star's fitness before the match but his questionable decision to pick McCarthy when he was clearly unfit has backfired once again, and former Southampton boss Koeman will presumably be seething over the mistreatment of his player ahead of the upcoming Merseyside Derby.