Sylvain Distin is in contention to make a final appearance for Everton on Sunday after an apparent change of heart by manager Roberto Martinez.
Distin, 37, whose contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the season, could play in his side's final match at home against Tottenham.
The match, Everton's last in the Premier League for this season, will give the French defender a chance to say goodbye to fans after six years at the club. Distin -- signed from Portsmouth in 2009 -- has not played for Everton since January after falling out of favour at Goodison Park.
Martinez indicated to British newspapers last Friday that he would not recall the defender to give him a send-off. But speaking at a news conference ahead of the match against Tottenham, the manager indicated that he was prepared to pick Distin after all.
"Sylvain has had a bit of an illness in the last two or three days so we are going to assess him today," he said. "If he is available for selection, he will have the opportunity at the weekend to say his farewell to the fans.
"It is easy to see what a great servant he has been to the football club and he deserves the opportunity of giving his final farewell, if the game allows it, against Spurs."
Distin has not been included in an Everton squad since a proposed move to West Ham fell through on the mid-season transfer deadline day, Feb. 2.
The centre-back suggested, in a cryptic Twitter posting on May 8, that there were hidden reasons for his absence from the team.
He wrote that the "truth always comes out" in response to a Liverpool Echo article asking why he had not been selected for so long.