James Vaughan keen to repay supporters’ faith in him

Jul 11 2008 Ian Doyle

JAMES VAUGHAN has revealed his determination to repay the faith of supporters that have backed him throughout his injury nightmare.

A plethora of fitness problems have restricted the 19-year-old to just eight starts since making his record-breaking goal-scoring debut in April 2005.

The most recent required a cartilage operation in March that ruled him out for the remainder of the last campaign.

Vaughan has since undergone a programme of intensive rehabilitation and is expected to play some part when Everton take on FC Sion in their first pre-season friendly in Switzerland tomorrow.

And the teenage striker has extra reason to want to put his injury jinx behind him.

"I am just glad to be out here with the rest of the lads," said Vaughan. "It’s been frustrating, of course it has, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t get me down from time to time. But I’ve had brilliant support from the club and from my family and I have been totally determined to get back to full fitness. I have to say, as well, that the fans have been great to me.

"They’ve supported me ever since I scored on my debut and it’s great to see Evertonians out and about wishing me all the best and telling me to make sure I’m back as soon as possible.

"It’s nice to be well thought of and I am determined to repay them when I’m available again."

Vaughan has made a total of 31 appearances during the course of his Goodison career, scoring seven goals, the most recent of which came in Alkmaar last December.

While many of his team-mates have enjoyed a summer break, Vaughan has been one of the few players to have stayed at Finch Farm in an attempt to be ready for the start of the season.

"I’ve never been afraid of hard work and I know there’s still plenty to do ahead of me," he said.

"I am still a young man and there is loads of time for me to catch up on the experience that I’ve missed out on.