Nathan Patterson has addressed his recovery plan at Everton as he prepares to make his return from injury.
The right-back suffered an ankle problem at the beginning of April which required surgery, just before he would have made his Premier League debut against West Ham United at the London Stadium. The layoff lasted for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign.
However, the defender was called up for international duty this month as he was selected for Steve Clarke's latest Scotland squad. After sitting out of last week's defeat to Ukraine, Patterson is back in contention for their game against Armenia, and he believes he's ready to go.
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He told a press conference: "Getting there. I've trained since we've came in the door, just working on my fitness with the sports scientists as well making sure I'm ready for the game.
"I think that's me ready now. Not to be able to help the team [vs Ukraine] was frustrating, we lost the game as well which was disappointing."
Frank Lampard confirmed that he was ready to give Patterson his Premier League debut just before his injury, having seen the defender play his first senior minutes for the club against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup. It's expected that the 20-year-old will be challenging Seamus Coleman at right-back next season.
And the Scotland international has confirmed how keen he is to impress whenever he takes to this pitch, including for his country against Armenia. And, he explained how he spent his injury layoff and the aspects he worked on with the Everton medical team.
He added: "I always want to impress any time you step onto the pitch, for my national team and Everton as well. Every time I step on the pitch I try and show what I can do, and hopefully I'll impress people.
"I've worked with the sports scientists and physios at Everton closely, making sure I'm ready when I come back on the pitch to be stronger. We've obviously worked on stuff that I've been more weak on, just to improve.
"I've been working really hard, for about five or six weeks just battering the gym and trying to progress myself on the pitch, which will benefit me later on in my career as well."
