Friday 12 December 2014 15:27, UK
Everton boss Roberto Martinez feels John Stones' enforced injury absence this season could prove to be of benefit to him.
Stones damaged ankle ligaments against Manchester United in early October but he is back in training, a little ahead of schedule, and the young defender could even be involved against QPR on Monday Night Football.
Martinez said: "He is ahead of schedule, probably two or three weeks, but I would expect that.
"He's such a quick healer and he hasn't stopped for one second trying to win those small margins to get back early.
"He's trained once with the team and he came through that really well. Now it's just a matter of making a good measurement of allowing him to be involved into a competitive game at the right time.
"I'm really pleased with his comeback.
"John is desperate to get back onto the pitch. I know he doesn't want to hear this but I said to him maybe it's a perfect way for him to divide his season into two clear spells.
"I thought he started the season really well. Sometimes at that age it's difficult to maintain your level for 10 months.
"Now he's got a clear period from January until the end of season to try to, if anything, step up the level.
"He's ready to do that. He's a phenomenal character and we all know he's an impressive footballer. It's great to have him fully fit and ready to participate."
Martinez made the most of his impressive young talent in Thursday's Europa League defeat by Krasnodar, a match that meant little to Everton, and he is happy to be able to give the likes of Conor McAleny, Ryan Ledson and Luke Garbutt as many chances as possible to speed up their learning process.
"It's very much individual," he said. "I think I know now exactly what these young players need to get close to fulfilling their potential.
"I was impressed with Ryan Ledson. I thought in the second half we saw an arrogant young man with incredible technical ability. I think he's got a terrific future and we're going to help him to try to develop.
"There's a couple of players who I feel need to play week in, week out in the league and maybe a couple of loan periods will be what they need. And then we've got another two or three players that I feel are ready to participate in the first team and really try to fight for their place.
"I'm very happy with the work that we're doing in the academy and at the U21 level and we're going to put in a lot of work to make sure that the youngsters get an opportunity.
"It's not about thinking that they're ready or not, we need to make sure that they get enough experience to be ready and then it's down to them to make that step into the first-team dressing room. But you're looking at the talent that we have and it's really exciting for the future."
Watch Everton v QPR on Monday Night Football - coverage starts on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7:00pm.
