Mohamed Elneny says he’s ready to start playing again, ahead of Egypt’s friendly match on Friday night, after recovering from the ankle injury he picked up with Arsenal.

Speaking to On Sport, Elneny explained that he underwent a period of rehabilitation with his country’s medical staff on arriving at the training camp. Now, he and the team are ready to take on Colombia in their penultimate pre-World Cup friendly.

“I’m 100 per cent ready,” he insisted. “I spoke to the medical staff right after joining the training camp and completed my rehabilitation successfully.

“The Colombia game will be a good lesson to us. It will be a good practice before the World Cup and we are ready for it.”

Unlike Kuwait (Egypt’s opponents last week), Colombia are one of the teams taking part in this summer’s World Cup. As Elneny says, it’s therefore a great opportunity for them to test themselves against the kind of opposition they’ll face in Russia.

They’ll have to take on the challenge without Mohamed Salah, who is still out after his clash with Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final. The 25-year-old is set to return for the tournament in Russia, but it’s probably good for them to test themselves without him anyway, just in case.

Thankfully, they have Elneny, their only goalscorer in last year’s Africa Cup of Nations final. They Arsenal man can hopefully show more of his late season club form and have a strong tournament with his country. Good luck to him!