• Teenager injures liver in freak training-match accident
• Defender lucky to be alive after emergency surgery

Everton’s Shane Duffy is recovering from life-saving surgery after suffering an injury to his liver, the Premier League club has said.

The 18-year-old defender was playing in a practice match for Ireland when he suffered the freak injury. He was treated on the pitch before being taken to Mater hospital in Dublin.

Duffy had emergency surgery to repair a damaged artery, which was causing internal bleeding. The teenager has since been moved from intensive care to a high-dependency ward.

“I would like to thank [the team doctor] Dr Alan Byrne and [team consultant] Prof John O’Byrne for their quick reaction to Shane’s serious injury,” said the Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

“As time was critical had they not acted as they did, Shane’s life could have been in more danger than it already was,” he added. “On behalf of the FAI, I would also like to praise Prof Gerry McEntee for conducting the emergency operation and ensuring that Shane was given the best possible attention. Shane is very lucky and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

O’Byrne said he believed the injury would not occur in another 100 years of football, such was its freakish nature.

Duffy, who played for Northern Ireland’s Under-21 side before switching allegiance to Ireland, made his Everton debut against AEK Athens in the Europa League in December.

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Portsmouth’s Premier League pertion ended with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s dying seconds, left-foot screamer beating Jamie Ashdown from 25-yards. Now, they can focus on their quest to cause arguably the greatest FA Cup final upset since Sunderland turned over Leeds United in 1973, by beating the champions, Chelsea, in Saturday’s Wembley showpiece.

Avram Grant’s first requirement to pull off a feat even he considers unlikely after his club’s tormented season was to leave Goodison Park with no fresh casualties, which was achieved from a game that will be instantly forgotten due to the clubs’ inability to affect their closing league position.

Everton bested the opening half, then fell away once the teams turned around for a final 45 minutes of league action. At the start David Moyes’ men slipped effortlessly into high gear, with Mikel Arteta ad Leon Osman calling the moves from central midfield, the latter particularly adept at skipping past feet to allow himself the pass into a colleague.

From this Arteta-Osman fulcrum a flurry of chances were missed. Louis Saha was offered a clear header from Leighton Baines’ cross, but steered over. Arteta had his own chance in space inside Portsmouth’s area, yet the shot proved a back-pass to Ashdown.

The keeper, in for a rested David James who did not travel, later saw a Jack Rodwell header bounced into his hands, after Osman’s dancing boots had allowed him to stroke the ball to Tony Hibbert, for the right-back to unload a swinging cross.

Portsmouth’s entertainment offerings for their travelling and very vocal support had been a miscued Kevin Boateng 25-yarder and little else until the second half, when they scored what appeared a legitimate goal.

Jamie O’Hara, on at half-time, found Anthony Vanden Borre who was being played on-side by Sylvain Distin and he finished from close range.

It was ruled out, though. Much like most will do when considering any notion of Portsmouth achieving a Saturday victory at Wembley. They couldn’t do, could they?

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