Everton legend Neville Southall admits he's a big fan of current No1 Tim Howard.

"Tim doesn't make many mistakes," he told evertonfc.com. "The difference between him and possibly Richard Wright is that the defence trust him - that's a massive boost.

"You can look at him and know what he's going to give you which is everything he's got.

"Tim is playing really, really well and on current form he's right up there with the best of them. Overall, he's really consistent and he suits Everton in what they are now.

"He's just what they need. He's comfortable with the people around him and knows who needs to be told that they're doing wrong and who needs a pat on the back."

The Blues would appear to have all bases covered in the goalkeeping department, with Howard ably backed up by Stefan Wessels and youngsters John Ruddy and Iain Turner. Unsurprisingly, Southall is pleased with the strength in depth.

He added: "Stefan Wessels can step in so they haven't got a massive problem in that department.

"Wessels came in and didn't let them down whatsoever which is really good because we've not had that kind of depth before.

"If you're going to go and win things then you need two or three decent goalkeepers."