Jake O’Brien has issued a glowing appraisal of Armando Broja - as he claimed the forward is going to be a very important player for Everton. Broja moved to Goodison Park on loan from Chelsea on deadline day but was sidelined for the opening months of the season as he continued to recover from an Achilles injury.
He was then forced to endure another spell on the sidelines after picking up an ankle injury towards the end of the 2-0 FA Cup victory over Peterborough United back in January. Although there were fears that the forward’s season was over, he made his return to action on Saturday against West Ham United.
Broja, along with Youssef Chermiti and Tim Iroegbunam, was introduced with 11 minutes of normal time remaining and helped inspire his side to find a late equaliser courtesy of a header from O’Brien. And the Republic of Ireland international believes that in the shape of Broja, the Blues, and Albania, who face England in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Friday, have a player who can do it all on their hands.
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“I think you saw when he came off the bench what kind of player he is; strong, fast,” O’Brien replied when asked about the 23-year-old.
“He has good feet too. I think as a defender he is not someone you want to come up against. He creates chances and he can be a nuisance as well.
“He is a really good player and there is a lot more to come from him. He will be a very important player to them [Albania] and he will be very important to us as well.”
O’Brien’s header in the first minute of stoppage time not only cancelled out Tomas Soucek’s opener but was his second goal in three games for the Blues. The 23-year-old is now away on international duty with Ireland, and fellow countryman Evan Ferguson couldn’t resist a cheeky jibe at his international team-mate as they crossed paths in the Goodison tunnel following Saturday’s game.
“Fluke,” the forward said laughing, with O'Brien replying: “I will give it back to him.”
Addressing his Ireland call-up, O’Brien said: “I found out about a week before it was announced. I spoke to the coaches. I am happy to be back in it, to be involved, to look forward to it and hopefully get some minutes.
“To be honest, we haven’t gone into detail (about his position), I suppose I will know in the next few days what they want from me and what position they want from me."
Everton don’t return to Premier League action until Wednesday, April 2, and although relegation fears have been eased since the arrival of David Moyes, O’Brien still wants his side to continue to climb the table.
“In the first half, I thought we had a lot of chances to score, but on another day we could have scored,” he said.
“I suppose we went in the second half, and it was more about how to finish those chances. I think when we came out, we were flat for maybe 20 minutes and that's when they caught us.
“But after that, I think we came together and chased the game and happily, came away with something.
“The crowd again were amazing. And it's amazing that we're nine games unbeaten again. The crowd have been amazing, and they've always pushed us to the end.
“I think the last couple of games we've got draws, but we could have turned them into wins.
“We're unbeaten, but I think we need to start adding a bit more points as well because they want to get a point for each. We'll be looking to climb the table."
