Everton winger Yannick Bolasie has blamed his long-term knee injury on a change of routine which comes with joining a new club, and not the challenge of Manchester United man Anthony Martial.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined since he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in a clash with Martial in Everton's 1-1 draw against United in December, and is currently preparing for a second operation.
Bolasie signed for the Toffees from Crystal Palace last summer for a fee understood to be worth £28m, but made just 13 Premier League appearances before suffering the injury.
Asked if he blames Martial's challenge for the injury, Bolasie told Kicca: "No not really, because it's a thing I do all the time. I'm always stretching and I'm always in contact with someone.
"I'm going back to the drawing book and it was something I hadn't spotted, probably because I wasn't in my normal routine that I would have liked to have been when you move to a new club.
"At Crystal Palace, I had my routine - I was all right, I knew what was going on in my body. But when you move, you start doing different training methods. You don't realise that other places in your body are getting tight and you still carry on.
"Next time, I'd know how to avoid it. But it happened. It's a freak accident, but part of football."
Ronald Koeman previously revealed that Bolasie may not be back in action until 2018.
Giuseppe Labellarte
