Everton loanee Landon Donovan believes club are starting to show the quality needed to kick-start their season

Landon Donovan is confident that Everton are beginning to show glimpses of the quality needed to turn an average season into a good one.

The on-loan American has claimed that the injury crisis at Goodison Park is a major obstacle stopping the club from progressing, but still believes he saw a lot of positives during Everton’s draw against Aston Villa last weekend.

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The LA Galaxy attacker has started to see a more unified team and believes the Toffees’ performances will only be enhanced by the returns of key players such as Phil Jagielka and Jack Rodwell.

Speaking to Everton's official website, Donovan said: "I thought given what this team has been through in the last couple of weeks, all the games, I thought the effort was really good [against Villa], the game was good and it was fast.

 "It was probably pretty exciting for the fans to watch and, in the end, a point is probably fair, even if on another day with a little luck we might have got a win.

"If we get Hibbo [Tony Hibbert], Ossie [Leon Osman], Jack [Rodwell] and Jags [Phil Jagielka] back it's quite a strong squad. Obviously adding Darron [Gibson] now has strengthened the squad, and getting Vic [Anichebe] healthy and playing well too.

"I think that will give the manager some really tough choices in the next few weeks. 

"Obviously this team is a great team. We're a lot of guys who work hard and play the game the right way, but we just need a little bit of creativity in the final third and I think we're starting to get that.

“I think Louis [Saha] was a little better on Saturday, I felt a little better, Tim [Cahill] played well, and I think we're just starting to click a little bit more, and it's going to get better as we go."

The United States international also discussed Shane Duffy, who earned his first full Premier League appearance for the club at Villa Park, claiming he was surprised how comfortable the player looked in the Everton defence.

"I was here with Shane a couple of years ago and I didn't even realise that Wednesday [in 2-0 defeat to Tottenham] was his first Premier League game,” he said.

“He looked so comfortable and having played a bunch of games out on loan you can tell his confidence is high. He came in on Wednesday and did well and on Saturday I don't think he put a foot wrong. He was really good." 

Although Donovan was keen to praise the improved performances of his temporary team-mates, he did cast a shadow over his own performances, insisting he is keen to improve the form he has shown at Goodison Park so far.

He went on: "It's been nice to come in and get a lot of games but you kind of get thrown right into the fire and you've got to fend for yourself.

"It's been good but the part that hasn't been sharp is in the attacking third. I feel I haven't been great with my passing and my finishing and it will be good having some time to actually work on it during training as opposed to just playing a game and recovering and then playing a game again."