Gibson in ‘phenomenal’ return

Republic of Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson is set to be available for this summer’s friendly internationals after Everton manager Roberto Martinez labelled his recovery from knee surgery as “remarkable.”

Gibson will return to full training at Everton next week for the first time since suffering major knee ligament damage against Kazakhstan last October.

Martinez is now hopeful that Gibson will be playing again before the end of the season after initially being told at the time of his injury that his campaign was effectively over.

Martinez said: “We never expected Darron to be back with is before the season ends.

“It is a credit to himself first and foremost but to the medical department as well.

“If he can be involved again before the end of the season it will be remarkable. Darron is doing very well right now and I think that his knee is now actually stronger than it was before the injury.

“I think that it is just the chain of muscles around the knee and making sure that he is ready to cope with football movements.

“We expect that he will be joining in with the group next week and that will be a phenomenal achievement by him.”