Everton's Phil Neville has praised Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Gareth Bale's progress in the past 12 months ahead of Wednesday's match between the two sides.

Bale is likely to be lining up against Neville on the left wing and the former Manchester United defender believes that he will be facing a much-improved opponent.

Neville said: "[In] Bale I see a better player than the one from last season. He is adding things to his game and doing now that he wasn't 12 months ago.

"Teams have tried to block him on the flanks but he has started coming into the middle, scoring lots of goals. He is maturing into an outstanding left-winger, probably the best in the Premier League if not in Europe. We are going to have to be at our best to stop him."

Spurs can move level on points with Manchester United if they beat Everton at White Hart Lane tonight.