Everton defender Mason Holgate has returned to training.

Holgate has missed the Blues' opening nine games of the season because of the toe injury he sustained in the squad's final warm-up game of pre-season against Preston North End.

Everton had been reluctant to put a timeframe on Holgate's recovery but he has, so far, been out of action for over seven weeks.

The Liverpool Echo say the 23-year-old is now back on the pitches at Finch Farm as manager Carlo Ancelotti slowly starts to see the squad's injury list begin to clear, although it is not yet clear how quickly he will be back in contention to play.

Taking to Instagram last night, Holgate posted a video of himself running with a ball and said: "Good to be back on the grass".