Everton fullback Leighton Baines says he can get back to his very best.

Baines says there is “no reason" why he can't get back to the form he showed for Everton five years ago as he prepares to return from injury.

He told the Telegraph: “There's no reason I can't be as good as I was five years ago. If I am not I can look at myself in the mirror. It won't be for the want of trying.

“If you had seen me train over the last few months you can see I'm keen to work.

“This is a dead interesting time for me. It's new. I have never been through anything like it before. I'm older, I'm going to be 31. I find it all quite exciting.

“Even the question of not having three years on a contract. It's a dead interesting position. In the past I have been younger, I have been fit and healthy and playing well. I am not in that situation any more. I am older. I have had two surgeries. I have one more year left. It's quite exciting to be honest."