The Everton defender has opened up on his battle to regain full fitness after a season disrupted by injury problems
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It is perhaps no surprise that Jarrad Branthwaite's return to fitness has coincided with a dramatic upturn in Everton's defensive performances. But the centre-back has revealed it has 'not been easy' to recover from his injury issues.
The England international missed pre-season and the early weeks of the campaign, before returning for the win over Crystal Palace. Then another setback saw him miss more matches as Everton struggled.
Branthwaite was back in the starting line-up for the 0-0 draw at West Ham United and the team has looked better for it. As the club tweeted on Monday, since October 1 no team in European football's top five leagues have kept more clean sheets than the Blues.
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The latest was arguably the most impressive, as Everton were able to hold Arsenal to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
"Coming down here and getting a point feels more like a win, because not many people come down here and pick up anything, so to do that is massive and it'll take us on to the next games," Branthwaite told Everton TV.
"Obviously, it's really pleasing to get another clean sheet. You give yourself the best possible chance in games when you do that. As we keep saying, it's not just the defence, either – it's the whole team. You see how the midfield and attack work, they kept going right through the 95 minutes and that's what we need to continue.
"I think when we looked at the fixtures December was looking tough, with all of the top teams to play but, for me, these are the games you want to play in."
While Branthwaite's return has clearly helped Everton, he is still striving to reach the levels that made him so effective last season.
In the 4-0 loss to Manchester United he made a couple of costly individual errors, while amid a colossal defensive performance at Arsenal the 22-year-old was uncharacteristically careless in possession at times too.
Speaking about his form, Branthwaite suggested he is still battling to get back to his best after a frustrating period of injuries.
"I'm building my way back into it," explained Branthwaite. "It's not easy coming back from such a long time out and you're coming into the Premier League, where all the players are up to speed, so it's about finding my feet and I'm slowly doing that and I'm slowly building into it.
"I think that's one of the most important things – especially in games like this – you've always got to be switched on. If you switch off for a split second they can be in and they'll take the chance to get.
"I can obviously get better, I can obviously improve but that's just the more games I play I will do that."
During the Arsenal game there were minor concerns over Branthwaite as he appeared to be in discomfort during the second half and in conversations with the Everton bench.
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He was able to complete the game however and manager Sean Dyche will be hopeful the defender can feature when Chelsea come to Goodison Park on Sunday.