Bryan Oviedo and Arouna Koné play for Everton U21s

Yesterday Bryan Oviedo and Arouna Koné made their return in a Blues shirt, for the under-21s against Chelsea U21s.

As all Evertonians will remember, Oviedo suffered a horrendous injury away at Stevenage in the FA Cup last season; a double leg-break. On Sunday afternoon the Costa Rican completed 90 minutes in the fixture against Chelsea’s youth side.

Also making his bow from injury was Arouna Koné – who completed 80 minutes in the same game. Only a few months into his Everton career and without a goal for the Toffees, the Ivorian was forced to undergo knee surgery and has been facing setback after setback in his recovery.

Now both look to be in the final stage of their recoveries and it won’t be long before we begin to hear their names on the bench over the tannoy system. The pair also played 55 minutes each in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week at Finch Farm.

In the U21s game yesterday, Chelsea ran away 2-0 winners with Jeremie Boga scoring both at the Merseyrail Community Stadium but in the bigger picture it was not the result that was the most important for this fixture.