Tuesday 23 September 2014 19:03, UK
Everton full-back Bryan Oviedo is set to put eight months of injury heartache behind him as he returns to first-team action against Swansea in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday.
The Costa Rica international featured for the Toffees' Under-21 side recently as he stepped up his rehabilitation from the broken leg he suffered in January, an injury which ruled him out of this summer's World Cup.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has confirmed Oviedo will be back in the squad for Tuesday's third-round tie at the Liberty Stadium.
The Spaniard also said another long-term absentee, forward Arouna Kone, could be involved for the first time since sustaining a serious knee problem just under a year ago.
Kone featured in the same Under-21s contest as Oviedo, although Martinez is not yet certain the Ivory Coast player is ready for a full comeback.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, Martinez, who indicated he would be making changes for the tie with his old employers, said: "We have really good news, with Bryan Oviedo being in the squad for the first time since his broken leg.
"Arouna Kone could make his return as well. He is available for selection, but we need to be a little bit cautious.
"Brian is in a situation where he has been training with the group now for a while and I do think he is ready for 11-a-side after he played the game with the Under-21s.
"But I need to make a little bit of a decision in the morning on Arouna."
Everton are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 3-2 home Barclays Premier League defeat by Crystal Palace.
The result means that, ahead of Saturday's Merseyside derby at Anfield, Everton have conceded 13 goals in the opening five games of the season, the worst defensive record in the division.
Martinez, however, insists there is no problem with his players' attitude towards defending, citing the recent 4-1 and 2-0 victories over Wolfsburg and West Brom as evidence, while also dismissing talk of a Europa League hangover.
"We had two very good performances defensively previous to the Palace match, so it is not that there is a problem that has been developing," Martinez said.
"I do think that the performance and clean sheet against West Brom brought our defensive intensity back to our play. I think it was back against Wolfsburg as well, and yesterday was just a bit different.
"Unfortunately we made a couple of bad decisions and errors which cost us goals. But I don't think it's the case of a lack of a defensive attitude of the team.
"It was a very rare game. The spooky side of it was that we replicated against Crystal Palace the performance we had in April, with the same scoreline. But we will learn from it."
“If it had been that we couldn't find our rhythm or our normal way of playing because we were tired or didn't have the energy, I would say that was down to the fact we played an extra game on Thursday.
"But that wasn't the case at all - if anything, it was the opposite. If you watched the first 15 or 20 minutes, we were the ones with the real intent on the ball. We looked fresh and were penetrating."
Everton will once again be without injured trio Seamus Coleman, Steven Pienaar and Ross Barkley on Tuesday.
