Former USA captain Claudio Reyna says he's a big fan of Everton's American pair Tim Howard and Landon Donovan.

Reyna says both players will be big players for the US's World Cup campaign this year in South Africa.

On goalkeeper Howard, Reyna told evertonfc.com: "He has been clearly the number one goalie for the US for a number of years now. He's been consistent since he joined Everton, he very, very rarely makes mistakes and - especially in the last couple of years - the amount of big saves he makes is increasing.

"Tim is going to be key to our success and you can see he is comfortable with that. He is really good in terms of training well and he's a leader now. He has a big responsibility now. There's a group of players on every team that leads the way and he's without a doubt part of that group. Whether he wears the band or not he's very much a captain within the group. He sets a great example for players coming in to the national team."

And on Donovan, who made his debut in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal last weekend, Reyna said: "It was a very good first game. He's a quick player who scores goals and creates goals. In the last few years he's been playing as an outside midfielder, for a while he was more of a forward and now he can work two ways.

"It's going to be a great ten weeks for him and he's going to get really good experience playing in some big games. Everton have some injuries so it's worked out that Landon can play straight away. I think he's most effective playing on either side of midfield, with someone who defends well behind him, who can release him to go forward - then he can do really well.

"It seems to be his best position because he's really good at running out of the midfield and has the work rate to keep going and he has the eye for the pass as well. He will be really useful for Everton."