A trio of Everton's long-term injured players are making a return to training.
Tim Cahill, James Vaughan and Thomas Gravesen have been peripheral figures for the Blues this term because of their injury problems.
Cahill suffered a second broken foot in the space of nine months during pre-season, whilst Vaughan dislocated his shoulder at Preston in July and Gravesen picked up a knee injury in training just days after his arrival from Celtic on a season-long loan.
All three are now closing in on a return to full fitness - and are ready to provide a timely boost to David Moyes' squad.
Head physio Mick Rathbone told evertonTV: "Tim is doing really well. He is doing nearly everything in training and going very well but he will see the consultant again this week.
"James is doing well and has joined in with a little bit of football. He has been out for a long time but objectively, the consultant is very, very pleased and he is making fantastic progress too.
"Tommy is doing ever so well. He has done some running and football work and will hopefully be back sooner rather than later.
"He has boosted the whole place since he came back. He has been fantastic. It is strange the way football is. I was proud he was playing for Real Madrid but now he is back, he is such a good professional, such a caring guy and he has so much time for everyone."
But Rathbone does provide a note of caution to the good news - admitting that there are always a few frayed nerves amongst the medical team when players return to full training.
He added: "When the players are with me, although they work very hard, there is an element of protection. We will twist and turn with the ball but there is no contact and going back into training provides that extra dimension so it is a bit of a tense time."
