Phil Jagielka is in the kind of form in front of goal that any Premier League striker would envy.
The Everton captain has got on the scoresheet in each of his last three outings, having gone over 700 days without scoring before the current streak began.
What on earth could have changed that suddenly turned Jagielka into such a dangerous goal threat?
Well, the centre-half recently changed his boots and is crediting the switch for his upturn in goalscoring.
Famously superstitious, having previously insisted upon a very specific tomato and mascarpone sauce with his pre-match pasta, Jagielka is a firm believer in his new lucky footwear.
“The lads have been been laughing away at my goals!” Jagielka told Everton’s website. “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 few 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.”
The 34-year-old opened the scoring at Old Trafford a fortnight ago, becoming the 17th different scorer for Everton in the league this season in the process, and found the net in the Toffees’ victories over Leicester and Burnley in the two weeks since.
“It’s always nice to score goals,” he added. “It’s something I’ve taken a bit of stick for – not scoring many, especially recently. So it has been nice to get a couple.
“Goals come from everywhere in successful teams. It is important that midfielders chip in and defenders do the same from set pieces. There is no point getting free-kicks and corners if you aren’t scoring from them. We’ve done well in that respect in the last few games and we want to build on it.
“Rom, of course, is flying up there at the moment but it’s good to know that if he has an off day then there are other people capable of sticking it in the back of the net.”
