Everton Under-21s will head to Spain for a warm weather training camp on Monday.
The week-long stay presents the young Blues with a chance to step up their pre-season schedule after a mild introduction at Finch Farm.
For some, it will be an opportunity to carry on where they left off last term; others a first shot at impressing David Unsworth.
For Antonee Robinson, however, the week will be a firm reacquaintance with a football after a nightmare 10 months.
The athletic left-back went from winning the Under-18s’ Player Player of the Season in 2014/15 and turning out for the first team in friendlies at Dundee and Leeds United, to being cruelly sidelined with a knee injury.
Now, after missing the whole of 2015/16, Robinson is ready to make up for lost time - starting in Spain.
"I’m really looking forward to it,” he told evertontv. "It’s been a while since we’ve all had a runout and some fitness exercise. We’ve built up a little bit this week with training.
“This last 10 months has been hard. With long-term injuries, there’s always times where you feel down, but the physios and everyone get you through it. As soon as you’re close to getting back fit, you start looking forward to training again.
“And good start in pre-season can set you up for the season itself - otherwise you’re playing catch-up.
"We’ve been told it’s going to be a very hard week in the sun getting put through our paces."
First day of full training in 10 months done 💪🏽
— Antonee robinson (@Antonee_Jedi) July 4, 2016
Two new faces in the Under-21s group will be striker Bassala Sambou and goalkeeper Chris Renshaw, who arrived from Coventry City and Oldham Athletic respectively earlier this summer.
Having been promoted to Unsworth’s ranks last summer, 18-year-old Robinson knows the duo will be in good company.
He added: “It will be nice to have different scenery to train in, especially for some of the newer lads coming in. We can all get to know each other better and have a laugh together.
"All the lads have made [Sambou and Renshaw] feel really welcome. We all stay together in this group. They might have do an initiation though - a bit of a song in front of the boys!"
Stay tuned to evertonfc.com and all of the Club's social media channels for updates, interviews and behind-the-scenes content from Spain.
