Mason Holgate is hopeful of being available for Everton against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend - but knows he has a challenge on his hands trying to dislodge either James Tarkowski or Conor Coady.
The defender hasn’t featured since picking up a knee injury during the draw with Brentford back in August. However, prior to that, Holgate did feature in all four of Everton's opening Premier League games of the season.
Frank Lampard confirmed last week that Holgate had stepped up his recovery and the 25-year-old has now revealed he has resumed full training and hopes to be available for Saturday's trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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"I'm good. I trained yesterday, obviously it was a lighter session with it being the day before a game, so hopefully I'll get another week of training in and I should be available to in the squad next week, hopefully,” Holgate told Everton Live.
"The timing of [the injury] wasn't ideal but you could always say that whenever you get injured. It's part of football, you just have to get on with it and hopefully I can come back stronger and better.”
Prior to Sunday’s defeat to Manchester United, the Blues boasted the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League. The signings of Tarkowski and Coady have massively improved Lampard's backline this season and Holgate knows he has a fight on his hands to get back into his side's staring line-up.
He said: "The team is doing well, it's been good watching the boys and seeing us pick up some results. Coads and Tarky have brought in a massive amount of experience and leadership into the team, I think it's clear to see that.
"Playing with them, I know exactly how good they are and that we're in safe hands. Hopefully I can come back in and help the team with my strengths but also support them because they're doing well.
"It's going to be tough to get back in [the team] but that's part of the challenge for me."
"It's a great statistic and it shows the work we've been doing. It's not just us as a defence, the whole team is working towards pressing from the front and setting traps," Holgate then added on Everton's defensive record so far this season.
"It's starting to show in the number of goals we're not conceding, which is a positive for us. Even at the start of the season when results weren't going our way, you look at the Chelsea game and the Forest game - and I think we were just missing a little bit of luck because the performances were there.
"Over the past few weeks, those results have been coming and it's great for us, it's great for confidence and it's great for the feeling around the place.
"If you look at the team we've got, the squad we've got. We know how far we can go. We want to be consistently picking up points."
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