Captain's Goals

Phil Jagielka has been a welcome addition to the Blues’ goalscoring charts lately, a statistic the skipper is hoping to continue as he aims to lead the Club back into European competition next season...

- Mike Taylor

Gary Lineker chose not to shoot during the pre-match warm-up through fear of “wasting” his goals, while the great Pele once gave his match-worn shirt to a fan, only to then suffer a dip in form and frantically attempt to track it down in a bid to rediscover his magic touch.

Phil Jagielka may not be superstitious to that extreme, but he has been known for an interesting quirk or two during his decade with the Blues.

The 34-year-old once revealed he would eat chicken and pasta with a particular tomato and mascarpone sauce on the eve of every game, choosing to dash to the local shop to pick up those ingredients if needed rather than eating something else.

In years gone by, there has also been a go-to CD that had to be played travelling to a game and in the changing rooms ahead of kick-off.

And now Jagielka has revealed the secret behind his recent goal scoring exploits - a new pair of lucky boots.

The skipper’s opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford last week was his first strike in the Premier League for 703 days. And that was quickly followed by a second in six days as he headed home Kevin Mirallas’ corner to help the Blues on their way to a 4-2 victory over Leicester City last time out.

“The lads have been been laughing away at my goals!” he smiles. “It’s been a case of change of boots, change of luck for me. Some new boots came out and I’ve managed an assist and a couple of goals in them, so hopefully that continues.

“The main thing is that they’ve been important goals, scored at important times and they’ve meant something at the end of the game. We’ve still got a few games left this season and, hopefully, I’ve not used all my goals up just yet.”

Jagielka became the 17th different Everton player to score in the Premier League this season, a figure that no other club can match.