BEN GODFREY is relishing a hoped return from injury later this month after coming through “the hardest period” of his career to date.

Godfrey fractured his fibula in August’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on the opening day of the Premier League at Goodison Park.

The York-born defender has not featured since for Everton but is targeting the Boxing Day clash with Wolves (3pm) as the date for his long-awaited comeback.

“It’s been a tough journey,” the former York City centre-half told The Press. “It’s probably been the hardest period of my career so far in terms of an injury.

“I’ve been really fortunate throughout my career that most of the injuries I’ve had have been short term. A few weeks at most with muscle strains, that sort of thing, never anything too long.

“When you’re playing week-in week-out and that gets taken away from you, it’s mentally so difficult to adapt to that. You just miss that feeling of competing on a Saturday.

“When it gets taken away, it’s a massive shock to the system. I’ve tried to stay as positive as possible and seeing bits of progress with the injury as little wins.

“It’s changed my outlook and I’m so appreciative of being back fit. It’s something that I’ll never take for granted.

“It’s nice to be on the other side of it now and feeling strong and ready to go.”

After four months on the sidelines, Godfrey was keen to credit the part played by his close circle during the mentally taxing period.

“I’ve really appreciated the people that have kept me going,” he added. “They’ve been a positive influence around me all the time, which is massively important.

“I’ve been really lucky that they’ve been so supportive. That’s been absolutely massive for me. I definitely would have found it a lot harder without them.

“When you have an injury like I had, it limits you in terms of what you can do around the house. To have my missus, my family, my friends and my agency, New Era Global Sports, helping me out, I can’t thank them enough.”

Godfrey insists that his tough-tackling game will not change given how he suffered the lengthy blow.

“It all stemmed from a wayward back-pass of mine,” Godfrey laughed. “I made a misplaced pass to Jordan (Pickford) and I ran back to clean it up.

“(Kai) Havertz took a heavy touch and I slid in to fix the mess and I’ve landed awkwardly and he’s landed on me. It was one of those things in football, it’s a contact sport and it can happen to anyone at any time.

“I’ve been in hundreds of thousands of tackles and come out fine. It’s just part of the game.

“I’ve promised myself that I’d never change that side of my game and this injury won’t change that either.

“In sport, you’ve got to understand that freak accidents can happen. It’s massively important that you don’t let it impact on your mindset and it won’t do that to me.”

That the 24-year-old is aiming for a return during the Christmas period is remarkable in many ways given his first fears when stricken on the field at Goodison Park against Chelsea.

“When the injury happened, I heard and felt it happen,” he recalled. “Your body just goes into shock. You know that you’ve done it without feeling too much of the pain straightaway. It’s a weird feeling.

“Instantly I thought it would be a six-month to a year recovery period.

“To be out for three months, it turns out that it’s not the worst injury in terms of recovery time. I can’t really complain, it could have been a lot worse.

“Wolves is definitely the fixture I’ve got my eyes on. It’s an important game for us and I’m excited to hopefully be involved.

“I’m ready to go, I’ve done everything I can to be fit, so I’m really looking forward to it.”