Everton Football Club News

• Nickname:Toffees
• Founded:1878
• Manager:David Moyes

• Ground:Goodison Park
• Capacity:42,440

Early return shocked Cahill

16 Sep 2008 - 12:44:53

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Everton midfielder Tim Cahill has admitted that he was surprised to feature in David Moyes' starting line-up against Stoke City on Sunday after spending six months on the sidelines with a broken metatarsal.

The Australia international scored the winner in the 3-2 victory at the Britannia Stadium, and is already looking forward to Thursday's UEFA Cup clash against Standard Liege.

"I'm delighted, but really I'm just glad to be a part of the squad again," Cahill told the Toffees' official website.

"It was a surprise to start, but if the manager is going to ask me if I'm up for starting, there's no way that I'm going to say 'no'.

"I didn't expect to play. All I did was keep myself fit, worked really hard in training and wanted to give him the option of being able to play me if I was needed. I'm fortunate that the manager has that belief in me.

"Then it was down to me taking the opportunity on the pitch.

"I felt like one of the new lads as I hadn't played in such a long time. Now we're looking forward to another European adventure. Standard Liege are a very good team but we're doing our homework on them."