Sam Allardyce hails ‘marvellous’ Seamus Coleman on Everton return

Sam Allardyce hailed the performance of Seamus Coleman as the Killybegs man made his return to Everton’s first team last night.

Coleman played the full game as Everton defeated Leicester City 2-1 at Goodison Park.

Coleman had been out for 10 months and got a rousing reception from the Toffees’ fans. At the end, Coleman could be seen beating his chest as he saluted the vociferous hoards in the Gwladys Street end.

A brace in the first half by Theo Walcott fired Everton to victory. Until last night, Coleman’s sum total had been 58 minutes for Everton’s U23s in a win over Portsmouth last week.

“For him (Coleman) to finish 90 minutes, and in the 92nd minute run 80 yards with the ball was outstanding for me,” Allardyce said.

“He’s an example to every player at this football club. When you’ve been out for 10 months and you can perform with the sort of energy and quality that he did today was marvellous to see.”