Stanley Mills nears the end of long recovery path

Let's hope the injury hasn't taken too much of his confidence away and he's back fighting for a shirt in the first team soon.

Good luck, Stanley.

Assuming he does, will the Dychasaurus give him a chance?

When I was a kid, we had Stevens, Richardson, Ratcliffe and McMahon – all given that opportunity, plus likes of Sharp and Mountfield brought in with very little experience.

I think deep down you know the answer to that...

Speed plus the ability to jink around defenders being a wingers stock in trade, it's hard to see him getting back to those levels after such a serious knee injury and this long out.

Losing a season of development between the ages of 18 and 22, players never seem to be able to get that back, even if they make a full physical recovery. He'll probably take the rest of this season to get back the strength and courage to prove he can overcome it.

He'll need next season to try and prove he's back at the standard he was at before injury. He'll then be 24 or so and he'll find his options limited due to age and the nature of the industry and the next younger talent.

Too old to be a youth prospect and too raw to be given an opportunity in a Premier League team. I imagine a few loans to seek first-team football and maybe a low transfer fee so he can have a decent professional career at a lower level.

Hope I'm wrong and I wish him all the best.

Spot-on; you captured and spelled out many of the vague thoughts I had about his lad — and seemingly countless other Academy players I have written similar news stories about on here over the years.

It has to be absolutely devastating at a personal level to sustain such an injury and then have to go through such a prolonged and — as you rightly point out – much extended recovery period. It destroys vital development and career-proving experience that you can never get back.

They say it only takes a second to score a goal (fat chance with our lot!) but it only takes a second to wrench your knee so horribly that — modern medical science notwithstanding — your highly promising future as a footballer lies in ruins.

So, if he manages to get some play somewhere by the end of this season and then again goes out on loan next season 2025-26, by the start of the following season, if I do my maths correct, he'll still be 22 although turning 23 shortly after the season starts, so hopefully has a bit of time on his side.

If he's as good as some of the ToffeeWebbers say he is, he could be a welcome addition to the squad or group again. Of course, it depends on who is in charge of us by then and their mind set.

I reckon his dad, Danny, had a pretty decent career playing football, tbh, so here's to hoping that young Stanley – once back literally (and fully) up and running... as well as kicking, passing, and even that sometimes seeming 'rarity' with Everton, shooting and scoring, of course – can go on to surpass what his 'old man' did on the pitch!

If, when he is properly fit, the manager is of the belief he is able to improve the team and is ready for first-team Premier League football, I don't doubt he would get his chance, in the same way that Dyche gave Branthwaite his Premier League chance and other youngsters before, such as Dwight McNeil when a youngster at Burnley.

He also brought through another rather good fullback, Keiron Trippier. Hopefully young Mills will be as good as Trippier in men's top-level football. Good luck to the lad.