Everton's Ashley Williams praises 'popular' Morgan Schneiderlin, discusses 'testing' Tottenham clash

Everton defender Ashley Williams has lavished praise on Morgan Schneiderlin and believes the Toffees will be 'full of confidence' going into their game against Tottenham on Sunday (5 March).

Everton are unbeaten in the Premier League in 2017 and recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday, with Schneiderlin delivering a man-of-the-match performance against David Moyes' struggling Black Cats. Williams is happy with the way the former Manchester United midfielder has settled into life on Merseyside and says the 27-year-old is already a popular figure in the Goodison dressing room.

Morgan played very well [on Saturday], as he has done since he came here," the Everton defender told the club's official website. "He's always in the right place at the right time, he works hard, he's a good cover in front of us as defenders, he takes it very seriously and he's another experienced player to have in the dressing room, which is always good.

"He's settled in well, he's tried to be involved straight away, the lads like him and he's a popular member of the squad and I thought he had another good game on Saturday."

Williams will want Schneiderlin and the rest of his Everton teammates to be at the peak of their collective powers when they travel to face Tottenham this weekend. Mauricio Pochettino's men have not lost at White Hart Lane in the Premier League this season but Williams, who has helped Everton keep four clean sheets in their last six games, says his side are out to secure victory against Tottenham as they bid to hunt down the much-hyped top six.

"I think Tottenham will be one of the most difficult game we'll have, recently, definitely," the former Swansea City captain added. "It's away, we want to keep the run going and it will be a test.

"But it's one where we'll go full of confidence, work hard as we always do and try to take something from the game. If we can win the game, then brilliant, but as a defence we're confident now, we want to keep working on that, keep building on the clean sheets and we'll go down there and try to win the game."