Everton assistant boss Steve Round has hailed the influence of their England defenders Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott.

"Joleon and Jags are core players within the squad," Round told evertonTV. "They have a big influence - not only on their own careers and the way they're playing, but also on the rest of the team. Them, coupled with Phil Neville and one or two others, they're always there, always training, first out everyday, last in.

"That rubs off and all of a sudden, instead of just having one or two doing that, you've got eight or nine.

"There's a lot of players here like that, who do put the time in on the training field. There's no secret, I think that's part of our success and the reason we are successful. The manager instills that work ethic and they go out on the field and they train hard and play hard - and they get their rewards for it.

"The way they [Lescott and Jagielka] have shown that spirit to the rest of the players has been really crucial in us being successful this season."