Andros Townsend has spoken of his delight at making his return to action after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury - admitting his 13 months on the sidelines were the "toughest" of his life.
The 31-year-old, who was signed by Rafa Benitez in the summer of 2021, has been sidelined since suffering the injury during the Blues' FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Crystal Palace in March 2022.
On Monday afternoon, however, the one-time England international marked a significant milestone in his recovery with an outing for the Blues' under-21s during their Premier League 2 defeat to Leicester City at Finch Farm.
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Taking to Twitter after the game, Townsend tweeted: "[It's] been the toughest 13 months of my life but putting on that blue shirt again makes it all worth it!!"
The former Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur winger is out of contract at the end of June and Sean Dyche admitted at the end of April that it was unlikely he would be flung into Everton's Premier League relegation scrap - with the 51-year-old insisting Townsend was "still a bit away" from a return to first-team action.
During his time on the sidelines, however, the 31-year-old tried his hand at commentary during the 2022 World Cup finals and could regularly be heard calling games on BBC 5 Live. And speaking to FC Business Magazine earlier this year, Townsend refused to rule out a return to the mic after his playing days are over.
“When you hit 28 or 29 years old, it is probably something that is on your mind almost every day. Before that when you are young, you think your career will last forever," said Townsend. "You don’t worry about your coaching badges and that side of it. But then in your late 20s when you have kids, honestly it is all you think about! So it is something I have been planning for the last two or three years.
“I have dabbled in the football media as well to get experience there. Consequently, when that day comes when I do retire, it won’t be a culture shock. It won’t be a case of: 'What am I going to do for the rest of my life now?'
"Hopefully I will be at the stage where I have experience in the media, I’ve got experience in coaching and I’ve got my coaching badges, so it will be a case of which path do I want to take?"
After a remarkable 5-1 thrashing of Brighton and Hove Albion, Everton have three Premier League games remaining this season. With home games against Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth sandwiched between a trip to the West Midlands to face a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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