Roberto Martinez has described surgery to repair Darron Gibson's ruptured anterior cruciate ligament as "a real success".

The Everton midfielder sustained the injury while on international duty earlier this month.

The manager told the club's website: "The medical team have been working really closely with the surgeon and [the operation] was a real success. Andy Williams, who is an expert in these sorts of injuries, produced really good surgery and we were all delighted that there wasn't much damage apart from the ACL.

"It was a terrific job and now we can start counting down the days until Darron will be fully fit and available. Obviously Darron is going to come back after a few days in hospital and from that point on we need to be stepping up the recovery period.

"Over the next two weeks we need to monitor him, but we are very happy that once the procedure took place there were no surprises and everything went extremely well. I do feel that Darron is such a strong character and he is going to focus on getting back as quick as he can. He could surprise us all, but it would be something special if he can make it before the season ends."

Gibson has made 43 appearances for the Toffees since moving to Goodison Park last January.