Everton's Cleverley suffers ligament damage

(Reuters) - Everton's newly-recruited midfielder Tom Cleverly has sustained ligament damage but he has not fractured his ankle as initially feared, manager Roberto Martinez said on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Cleverley, who joined the club on a free transfer from Manchester United, was carried off on a stretcher late in the first half of Saturday's 0-0 Premier League draw at Tottenham Hotspur after a challenge by Eric Dier. "We thought that it was a fracture and to have a fracture at this stage of the season for Tom would have been devastating because his form has been terrific," the 42-year-old Martinez told the club's website (www.evertonfc.com). "He has got ligament damage and the next step will be to see how long he is going to be out. "It's an injury we need to try and recover as quickly as we can but clearly it's good news from when we saw Tom falling to the ground at White Hart Lane," Martinez added. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)