Muhamed Besic has been declared ‘ready’ to make his long-awaited return to action – and in the process has given Roberto Martinez a welcome selection headache.
Besic hasn’t appeared for Everton since he limped off just nine minutes into the 3-1 win over Chelsea on September 12.
The 23-year-old returned to footballing action in the second half of Bosnia’s Euro 2016 play-off defeat against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin last week, and featured for just over an hour of Everton’s under-21’s 3-2 loss to Porto in the Premier League International Cup at Goodison.
And Martinez is delighted the central midfielder is available to further bolster his options ahead of the busy winter period.
“I thought Mo Besic was outstanding with his work coming back from the internationals,” said the Blues boss.
“We made sure he didn’t have any negative reaction. Sometimes you can get through on adrenaline, but it’s been very good to see his reaction.
“He is ready. He is fully fit. To get that playing time is very beneficial.”
The Blues travel to Bournemouth for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, as Everton embark on a rigorous period with the games coming thick and fast.
And Martinez said: “We have a very strong squad in terms of numbers. We are getting everybody back from injury. Bryan Oviedo has been working with the ground really, really well.
“Tom Cleverley was available for last weekend. And we have all the players who were involved last week.
“It’s great to have all those numbers back and see players reaching very good moments of form.
“In order to keep that level of form, you need competition for places and we have that on a daily basis.
“Bournemouth is going to be a difficult challenge that we are going to have to be prepared for and at our very best.”
There was a further setback from the U21 game for Tony Hibbert, who hasn’t featured for the first team since December 2014.
“Tony had a very good introduction into the game after pushing himself a lot, but he picked up a little niggle and had to come off and that was a disappointment,” said Martinez.
It’ll be interesting to see if Muhamed Besic and his fellow sidelined teammate Leighton Baines feature in the squad on Saturday against Bournemouth.
Both will provide a welcome boost to the Toffeemen, who have had their fair share of injuries this season.
