Fit-again Hornby up for Swedish test

Scotland Under-21 striker Fraser Hornby faced ankle reconstruction surgery earlier this season but he knew he was back when he was able to tussle with giant Everton defender Kurt Zouma at training. The highly-rated 19-year-old had bagged five goals in two games for Scot Gemmill’s team last year before he was injured in a reserve game for Everton and missed several months.

But he’s confident he’s back fully fit and led the line for the young Scots in their encouraging goalless draw against Mexico on Friday.

The Under-21s face Sweden today in Marbella and Hornby is determined to kick on for club and country.

He said: “I injured my ankle the day before Scotland Under-21s were due to play England and Ukraine. I couldn’t go to that and I was gutted. But after that I had to think positively and do all I could to get back as quickly as possible.

“I had ankle reconstruction surgery. It was serious as I snapped two of the ligaments in my ankle. But my rehab went really well and I was back playing within 12 weeks.

“If you are a professional footballer you just want to be out on the pitch. There were a few lads who were all doing rehab at the same time so we helped each other through the process.

“Hopefully that is me done with injuries. Being at a club like Everton made sure that it was all sorted quickly. I feel I am back fully fit again. We had a game the other week and it was the under 23s versus the first team and I was directly up against Kurt Zouma and Yerry Mina.

“Zuma and myself had a greatlittlebattleandwecame together a few times and he gave me a lot of respect and told me that I did well.”

Hornby is hoping he can pick up on his recent scoring run for the 21s when they face the Swedes today. He said: “Sweden will be tough opposition. We have shown that we can get big results against big teams and, on our day, we can beat anyone.”