Gosling was out between 2 December and 10 February

Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes youngsters Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell have benefited from a break after they both scored against Manchester United.

The pair have both returned this month from injury and scored in the 3-1 win.

Osman told BBC Radio Merseyside: "There was a bit too much on their shoulders early in the stage of the season. You can see what quality players they are.

"It's good they managed to get a step back and have a break to take a little bit of pressure off them."

Gosling, 20, and Rodwell, 18, both picked up hamstring injuries in different Europa League games in December and returned in the victory over Chelsea earlier this month.

Osman continued: "It's great for us as a squad to have quality players like that to call upon."

The win over United on Saturday quickly followed the 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the Blues' previous Premier League fixture and Osman says it is no fluke.

"At 1-0 down we didn't panic we didn't lose our heads and we kept on it and believed in ourselves that we'd come back," he said.

"We showed against Chelsea we could do it and we showed against Manchester United that we're fully confident in our ability and we can perform it on the park."

The 28-year-old also had word of praise for Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, as it was his strike levelled the game, catching goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar off-guard.

Osman continued: "I don't think anyone expected him to hit it as well as he did.

"We probably should have as he has done it a couple of times so far this season. It was great to see it hit the back of the net.

"It was a tremendous strike and it was fully deserved, he did really well today."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version