The 30 year old has been out of action for the entirety of the 2015/16 campaign with a recurrence of the ankle injury he sustained towards the back end of last season.
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Everton defender Leighton Baines has welcomed the competition from Brendan Galloway after scoring on his return from injury on Wednesday.
With the global break now upon us, he is preparing to step up his return to full fitness by featuring in a behind-closed doors friendly in a bid to boost his match fitness, reports evertonfc.com.
The 30-year-old was forced to undergo two separate surgeries to fix a problem in his ankle as he now edges closer to making a return.
Should Leighton Baines come straight back into the Everton first-team?
“It’s really hard to judge because I’ve never been in this position before”, he said.
“I played 90 minutes in pre-season and that’s the only 90 minutes I’ve played in the past six months or so. So that’s another thing I’ve got to be motivated by really, and I plan on being in the best shape possible, putting myself forward and it’s up to the manager from there”.
“I feel really fit in that sense but you have to get football fitness and match fitness, so that’s the process we are in at the moment”.
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“I feel good in all other aspects so it is just about ticking those other boxes and with the work I’ve done over the last few months, hopefully that will stand me in good stead to progress through this next stage quite quickly”.
