Everton win eases pain for injured Stones

The Everton defender suffered a cut above his left eye in the first-half challenge with Newcastle's Senegalese striker and had to leave the pitch to receive treatment.

He returned with 10 stitches but played the whole 90 minutes as Everton recorded a comfortable victory at St James' Park, boosting their hopes of overhauling fourth-placed Arsenal in the bid for UEFA Champions League football.

The defender insisted that the injury was not causing him any problems, but revealed that he could not remember much of the incident that caused it.

"The head's fine, I can't really remember much of it," he told Everton's official website.

"I looked down and there was some blood dripping down so I went off, got sorted and came back on.

"I think there's about eight to 10 stitches. It was a cut but I wanted to get back on the pitch.

"They (the medical team) train a lot to do these type of things and so a big thanks to them. They did a really good job and I was back out on the pitch really quickly."