Former Everton striker Adrian Heath has hailed the progress of Phil Jagielka since his arrival at Goodison Park.

Heath knows plenty about Jags from when he coached the defender at Sheffield United.

He also tried to sign him when he was at Sunderland with another former Blue, Peter Reid.

"I remember thinking on the first day Jags trained at Sheffield United that he was a kid of real promise and I told the chairman that we needed to get him on a longer contract," Heath recalled.

"When I was at Sunderland with Reidy, we tried to sign him. He's top class. He's a great player and a great kid to have around the club because he will play anywhere for you."

Heath also told evertonfc.com: "The biggest compliment I can pay him is that he is like Alan Harper. I'm so pleased that he is doing well and I never doubted that David had invested wisely when signing him.

"People said to me that £4m was a lot for him but I told them that Everton were getting three players for that fee. He will go on to prove that he is priceless."