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When Everton fans will look back at the footballing career of Bryan Oviedo, there will be only one word that will come to mind - snakebitten.
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Definition courtesy of Oxford Dictionaries
The left-sided player has seen his time at Everton marred by one injury after another, and can be easily considered one of the most unfortunate players to have donned the royal blue.
In the latest episode of his injury drama, Oviedo started the game against Sunderland at left back, but went off injured after making a defensive stop in the twenty fifth minute. It appears this is a hamstring injury, and the length of his absence will only be clearer after scans later today.
His woes can be traced back to January 2014, when he had a horrific leg break playing against Stevenage in the FA Cup Fourth Round. That injury led to the player missing out on the World Cup that Costa Rica had qualified for. After a long and lengthy rehabilitation that summer, he managed two games in the 2014-15 season before a hamstring injury ruled him out for the rest of the season.
After full participation in this summer's off-season program, it looked like we would see a full season of Oviedo - in fact fans had him penciled in as the starter at left back with Leighton Baines out injured, Luke Garbutt out on loan (and also injured) and Brendan Galloway unproven beyond a couple of games last season.
However, he ended up missing two months with a cruciate ligament injury, and last week's Capital One Cup game against Norwich City was only his first game back, before he limped off again on Saturday. This is what manager Roberto Martinez had to say -
"It is a sad incident, because of his injury history. Bryan has been fighting to get fit after the horrific break that he had.
"We're going to find out a bit more about the extent of the injury, but we don't feel it's anything too serious. This niggle is a setback, but it's one where after the international break, he'll be back to his best.
"It seems that when you come back from a long-term injury like that, the mechanics of your whole body suffer a little bit. That's what Bryan has been picking up, little injuries and little niggles.
"But he's such an incredibly driven individual that it will never stop him from being back on the pitch."