Injured Everton star Mikel Arteta says he is slowly but surely recovering.

The Spanish midfielder suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in February and will definitely miss the star of the Premier League season but he has not put a date on when he is due back.

"It's a long injury, six or seven months and there are always ups and downs in that period. But the work we are doing is going well,” he told the Daily Post.

"I don't want to set any dates for a comeback, I just want to go day by day. You learn with these injuries in the knee that it can be different every day.

"I have had three injuries in the same knee, it wasn't just the cruciate. I'm doing everything, working six, seven or eight hours a day to get back as soon as possible.

"But I won't rush it because I know it was a big injury. I am improving slowly, day by day.

"There is never a nice moment to get injured, but that period of the season, I was playing in the middle and the team was doing really well and playing really nice football - everything was going our way.

"Yes it was hard, but we all have to learn from these injuries, they will make me stronger."