Seamus Coleman’s recovery from a serious knee injury is now expected to take another couple of months, with the Everton captain not returning to the side before October.
Coleman had to undergo knee surgery after he sustained the injury in the 2-2 draw at Leicester City last May, forcing him to miss the last four matches of Everton’s relegation battle. It was expected that he would be fit for the new season but his recovery has extended over the entire pre-season, meaning he will now miss at least 10 matches of the new season.
While the player expressed relief that the injury wasn’t a lot worse, it has proved to be bad enough in terms of its impact on the player and on Sean Dyche’s injury-ravaged squad as they battle to improve on a dreadful start to the new season.
“It’s feeling good and a lot better than I would have imagined coming off the pitch that night, to be completely honest with you.
“In terms of a comeback time to play, we’re taking it week by week at the minute. With the way knee injuries are, and I’ve never had one before, they always react in different ways, but thankfully for me it’s well on schedule to being back and I’d like to think in the next couple of months, definitely I will be back.
“I’d say I will miss the next international meet-up but shouldn’t be too long after that and then I have a long season after that to look forward to because I feared the worst that night.”
Coleman will also miss Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifiers next month, away to France and then at home to the Netherlands.