Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson out for six to eight weeks with knee injury

Gylfi Sigurdsson’s chances of playing for Iceland at the World Cup have received a boost, with the playmaker’s knee injury expected to rule him out for six to eight weeks.

Sigurdsson picked up the injury during Everton’s Premier League victory over Brighton on Saturday and saw a specialist on Monday evening.

The time-frame means the 28-year-old, who joined Everton from Swansea last summer in a club-record deal, is likely to miss the rest of the Toffees’ Premier League campaign.

But, provided he does not suffer any setbacks, Sigurdsson should have enough time to recover fully for Iceland’s opening World Cup match against Argentina on June 16.

An Everton statement read: “Following consultation with a specialist, it is anticipated that Gylfi Sigurdsson’s knee injury, sustained in Saturday’s Premier League win over Brighton, will keep him sidelined for between six and eight weeks.”

Sigurdsson has had a mixed first campaign in a difficult season at Goodison Park but has grown in influence under the management of Sam Allardyce and has scored seven goals.

Allardyce said: “We’ll continue to assess Gylfi’s progress on a week-to-week basis and the medical team will work very closely with him, as they would with any injured player, to get him back playing as quickly as possible.”