Saturday 18 February 2017 13:52, UK
Yannick Bolasie has blamed his long-term knee injury on a change of routine at Everton, and not the challenge of Anthony Martial.
The winger has been sidelined since he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in a clash with Martial in Everton's 1-1 draw against Manchester United in December, and is currently preparing for a second operation.
Bolasie signed for Everton from Crystal Palace last summer for a fee understood to be worth £28m, but made just 13 Premier League appearances before suffering the injury, and the 27-year-old believes the switch to new surroundings is partly responsible for his setback.
Asked if he blames Martial's challenge for the injury, Bolasie told Kicca: "No not really, because it's a thing I do all the time. I'm always stretching and I'm always in contact with someone.
"I'm going back to the drawing book and it was something I hadn't spotted, probably because I wasn't in my normal routine that I would have liked to have been when you move to a new club.
"At Crystal Palace, I had my routine - I was all right, I knew what was going on in my body.
"But when you move, you start doing different training methods. You don't realise that other places in your body are getting tight and you still carry on.
"Next time, I'd know how to avoid it. But it happened. It's a freak accident, but part of football."
Despite Ronald Koeman suggesting Bolasie could be out of action for a year due to the injury, the player is beginning to think more positively about his recovery.
"Right now I'm preparing my leg to be in the best condition it can be for the second operation," he said.
"I'm starting to see the light a little bit. The first four to six weeks were really boring as I couldn't even put my leg on the floor and had to keep my right leg up at all times.
"Now I am partial weight-bearing and I'm allowed to put my feet on the floor with my crutches on and walk like a normal person would do.
"I'm just learning techniques of how to walk at the moment and it's been going good.
Bolasie added: "It's a long time without playing football, and I've been playing football for the last 10-15 years. At the moment I'm coping with it well."
