As he continues his recovery from a foot problem, the midfielder is not groaning about past misfortunes. He prefers to look on the bright side and the future.

He told evertonfc.com: "I’m a footballer, I’m very young and injuries happen. I’m thankful that I’ve played about 350 games in my career already so I’m trying to look at the positives.

“There’s nothing else for me to do but just concentrate on football and my family and the biggest thing is that football is my passion and I enjoy it.

“Whether it’s getting fit or staying fit, I’m always involved in it. When I came back from that injury [last season] I scored 10 goals in 28 games so for me that’s not frustrating."

As for a return, he told the Liverpool Daily Post: "As it goes, it's still up in the air.

"I'm not going to put any dates or times on it because it's probably one of these things where I'm just looking to get fit and that's the most important thing.

"If it takes me an extra couple of weeks then it does, if it doesn't, it's a bonus."