Ben Godfrey has provided an update on his recovery from a fractured fibula, while promising "nothing will change" in terms of his full-blooded approach when he returns to action.
The Everton defender sustained the injury less than 10 minutes into the Blues' opening game of the season in a last-ditch tackle on Chelsea's Kai Havertz.
Frustratingly, replays suggested the ball had gone out play, although the assistant referee did not raise his flag, seconds before the incident happened at Goodison Park.
Now, a month after undergoing surgery, Godfrey says he is pleased with the progress being made and expects to be available again in "a couple of months".
"It's going really well," he said, speaking on Everton Live, the Club's pre-match show. "Obviously, it's tough to be missing out on playing but it's part of the game.
"Things are going well in terms of the injury. Every day I'm improving and I'm just looking forward to being back.
"Mentally, it's tough. As players, football is all we know so for that to be taken away it's difficult to deal with - but I'm lucky that I've got good people at the Club, my teammates, family, friends. Everyone has kept me going, reminding me that it's only a temporary thing and I'll be back soon.
"I want to thank the fans for the messages of support I've had and not only them but there have been lots of people in football who have reached out.
"Thank you for the positive messages - it definitely helps.
"When will I be back? I'm playing it by ear. It'll be a couple of months but I'm just taking each day at a time and when it's right, it'll be right."
When asked if the injury would affect the tough tackling for which he has become renowned for, Godfrey added: "That won't change after this - don't worry about that!
"It's part of the game.
"I've made thousands of tackles and it's only happened once, so I'll be back at it the second I'm back."
For now, Godfrey remains a spectator but insists the squad remains in confident mood behind the scenes, despite still searching for a first league win of the campaign.
That, he believes, is at least partly in thanks to new faces in the squad - and fellow central defenders James Tarkowski and Conor Coady, in particular, have caught Godfrey's eye.
"They're great additions," he explained. "Good guys and good footballers - you don't need me to say that because we've all seen them over the years and how good they've been.
"We've made massive improvements in terms of the personality and additions to the squad.
"They're great guys to be around and we'll use every bit of that.
"They'll help us kick on."
