James Garner provides Everton fitness update as he makes squad confidence claim ahead of Newcastle

James Garner has set his sights on making his full Everton debut.

The midfielder joined the Toffees from Manchester United in the summer transfer window.

But Garner arrived short of match fitness, having had an uncertain few weeks at Old Trafford.

The England international has come off the bench in Frank Lampard’s past two games - defeats to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur

Now Garner is hoping to make a start for Everton - and insists he ready to do so.

He told the club’s website: “Ultimately, that’s the next step [for me].

“It took me a good few weeks to get me to where I am now [fitness-wise] but I’m definitely ready to go.”

Everton return to action when they face Newcastle United at St James’ Park tomorrow.

And despite the Blues losing their past two games, Garner believes togetherness will be key to getting a result.

He added: “The atmosphere has been good in the squad.

“I think you can see that in the matches, with the way we’ve been fighting for each other and running for each other.

“If we stay together, which we definitely will, then we’ll be confident going into that Newcastle game.

“They are on a decent run but we have got a good team, with good staff around us, so we’ll just follow the game plan and hopefully get a good result there.”