Tim Howard closes in on 200-match landmark

Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard is due to make his 200th consecutive Premier League appearance against Stoke City at the weekend.

The American international has been a virtual automatic starter ever since he arrived at Goodison Park on a permanent basis from Manchester United in the summer of 2007.

However, despite being so close to a landmark, Howard has insisted that he will treat the encounter as just another match.

"I try not to follow my stats because I just think it's bad karma, bad luck," he told the club's official website. "But it's incredible. Where's the time gone?

"I've been lucky to have a manager who believes in me, who probably has played me on occasions where maybe I didn't deserve the nod but has shown confidence in me.

"I think I've done a few things right. I just get my head down and I've been able to do that because I've just focused on the next game - not 100, not 200, not 400. I just focus on the next game and I think when you do that good things happen."

Howard last missed a league match for the Toffees back in September 2007.