Anichebe excited by Gibson debut

, 16 January, 10comments  |  Jump to most recent
Victor Anichebe was encouraged by new signing Darron Gibson's first appearance for Everton on Saturday and predicts the 24 year-old will be "a great signing".

Gibson played over 80 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and, in addition to providing a couple of visionary forward passes, the first of which putting Tim Cahill into a very good position early on, the new arrival from Manchester United provided a solid midfield anchor alongside Marouane Fellaini.

Gibson was deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and was snapped up by David Moyes for an initially nominal fee (that could rise to £2m based on appearances) last Friday.

Putting in a couple of crunching but fair tackles and providing a regular and willing outlet for the pass in the centre, Gibson could provide the answer in an area of the field that has been badly hit by injuries to the likes of Leon Osman, Jack Rodwell and Ross Barkley in recent weeks.

Saturday's goal hero, Anichebe, certainly seems excited by Gibson's arrival.

"I think he's a great signing and I'm sure he'll push on to keep doing well for us," the striker is quoted as saying by the BBC.

"I saw some great balls he was playing to the forwards and hopefully he can gain some confidence and fitness."

And Anichebe was encouraged not only by what was a better team performance but also the performances of the other new members of the team, namely himself, Landon Donovan and, of course, Shane Duffy who was recalled from a loan spell at Scunthorpe and asked to step into the breach immediately when Sylvain Distin was injured against Tottenham Hotspur last week.

Indeed, the young Irishman is becoming used to being thrown into the deep end and copping admirably — a similarly deep-cutting injury crisis during the Blues' Europa League campaign three seasons ago necessitated Duffy making his senior debut in European competition in waterlogged conditions against AEK Athens.

Quotes or other material sourced from BBC Sport



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