Bless you Jon Walters, you magnificent battering ram of a human being.
After reports this morning that Jon Walters had undergone knee surgery and would be out for between six and eight weeks, Irish fans were understandably worried. Even in the worst case scenario, it was unlikely that Walters would have missed out on Euro 2016.
Eight weeks would bring him through to the end of May and with Ireland's first game against Sweden taking place on June 13th, we weren't quite at panic stations with the possibility of heading to France without the Stoke attacker. However, that's not to say there wasn't quite a bit of worry.
Heading to the Euros with Walters having not played a game between now and the end of the Premier League season would be far from ideal. The friendlies against the Dutch and Belarus may have given him a chance to get some minutes under his belt but even still, that's not exactly what we'd want to see.
Well thankfully you can put the rosary beads away because Walters has spoken to the Independent.ie in the past couple of hours and he's delivered one of the most comforting sentences we've seen in quite some time.
Yes, he has undergone surgery to repair a cartilage injury but don't worry folks, it'll be 'grand'.
I've had a similar one done before and was back playing in less than three weeks so I'll be grand.
Walters has stated that he could return before the end of the Premier League season and all we can say is all aboard the Euro 2016 hype train once again. And just in case that wasn't enough to ease your fears, Walters has added another update.
Apologies for no post op selfie. I had surgery yesterday and all went well, delighted to have moved up two cup sizes 👍🏼
— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) March 31, 2016
Good to know, there's no way those Swedes will be able to handle him on June 13th.
