Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard admits it was a huge relief after keeping a cleansheet in their win at Bolton Wanderers.

The American had gone 17 games without a blank and told evertonTV: "It's like a monkey off my back - like a gorilla. I've been losing sleep to be honest. The boys deserve it and we hope it's the first of many [clean sheets]. It's nice to get it out the way. The manager is always saying it and it's no secret that if you keep it tight at the back you have every chance of getting a result.

"We're virtually playing with the same back four and goalkeeper that we've had two fantastic seasons with. It's been difficult for us because we've been trying our darndest and things haven't come off for us. That part of it has been really tough to take.

"We're prideful professionals and it hasn't fallen for us and it sucks. Hopefully we can kick on now and get a run of clean sheets. If we keep putting the effort in things will fall for us."