Sean Dyche insisted that football came second as he sought to give Andros Townsend the best opportunity to return to fitness.
Townsend did not kick a ball for Everton last season, missing the campaign as he recovered from the horrific anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered in March 2022.
He was almost a year into his rehabilitation when Dyche was appointed Blues boss - and has now shared details of their first conversation.
Speaking to Talksport about his battle with injury, the 31-year-old said: “I’ve been lucky, I’ve had two great managers - Frank Lampard, firstly he was great with me, he was trying to include me in any way possible, and then Sean Dyche came in.
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“The first thing he said to me was, he pulled me in, sat me down and said ‘Andros, how are you?’ I was like ’yeah, no, it’s good’... he said: ‘No, no, no, Andros, I don’t care about football - Andros, how are you?’. He tried to include me and cared about me as a person.
"He said: ‘Andros, I would love to have you fit but first and foremost as a human being I want you to be well. First and foremost get yourself sorted mentally and then you can think about reintegrating into the group'. So I have been very lucky in the two managers that have been supporting me.”
Townsend fought his way back to first team training by the closing weeks of the season, including playing minutes for the Under-21s. He did not make a senior matchday squad though and has not been offered a new contract - meaning he will leave the club when his current deal expires this summer.
Speaking about his future he said: “There’s clubs who are interested but they need to see me - they haven’t seen me in 13/14 months so I think possibly I may have to go in and train somewhere for pre-season to prove myself which is something I haven’t done in 10/15 years, going on trial.
"I have got no ego, I understand the situation I am in, I am happy to go and prove myself in pre-season and take it from there.”
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