Distin - Rodwell raring to go

Jack Rodwell: Everton midfielder hoping to steer clear of the treatment table in 2012/13

Sylvain Distin is confident Jack Rodwell can put his injury troubles to one side and re-establish himself as a key figure for club and country.

Everton's talented midfielder has endured wretched luck with injuries of late, with a persistent hamstring complaint dashing his Euro 2012 and Team GB dreams.

The 21-year-old has, however, already shown that he is among the hottest prospects in the Premier League and has earned senior recognition with England.

The challenge now is to steer clear of the treatment table and prove that he is not injured-plagued.

Distin concedes that niggling problems can be difficult to shake off, but the French defender is convinced that the Rodwell of old will be back at Goodison Park in 2012/13.

He told the Liverpool Echo: "He is working hard and he will be fine. Sometimes injuries like that happen and you have to accept it.

Quality

"Sometimes you will have a spell of months, seasons and years when you have nothing and then you will have two, three or four in a row.

"You just have to keep strong, keep working and make sure you come back even better.

"We don't have a big squad, so we feel every injury we suffer. Jack has enough quality to be a great player.

"It would be good if we could just let him play his football and not put too much pressure on his shoulders. That is all that we want and that is all he wants. He just wants to play football."

Distin added: "Everyone is different. You like to work hard but some players cannot do that - if they work too hard it can injure them.

"It is for Jack to understand his body and how it works. I can't tell him to do this or that. It is for him to find out."