Everton skipper Phil Neville says their sudden form surge has come from the lift January's new signings have made.

Darron Gibson and Landon Donovan - albeit the latter only on a short-term loan - arrived early in the month before the late captures of Steven Pienaar and striker Nikica Jelavic, who missed out on Saturday through injury.

Neville said: "At the training ground there is a bounce in everyone's step, the manager is bouncing and the players are all confident.

"There is a real competition for places now and no-one is guaranteed a place.

"All of a sudden you are thinking we are beginning to look like a powerful squad again and that is why the performance levels have been raised."