Everton's Jo aims to beat Aston Villa

Apr 7 2009 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

Everton demolished Wigan at the weekend and Osman was full of praise for the Belgian.

“His size is there for all to see and when he gets his game right he is unplayable,” he said.

“He is such a big lad with tremendous skill and very hard to stop. He is so powerful and if he gets in your face in possession he is virtually impossible to stop.”

Osman has benefitted most from Mikel Arteta’s season-nding injury.

He added: “I have been playing further forward since Mikel was injured, and I am certainly enjoying it a lot.

“It has been a very pleasing time for me. It has been a blow to have lost Mikel, but it does give me – and Steven Pienaar – the chance to go forward more; it gives us both licence to attack.”

Tim Howard’s thigh injury has been classed as ‘very minor’ and he is likely to play on Sunday.

The American stopped taking goal kicks as a precaution against Wigan.

Head physio Mick Rathbone said: “Tim’s got a very minor thigh strain, and we will see how he progresses this week.”