RECORD-EQUALLING Tony Hibbert has expressed his pride at moving alongside a pair of Goodison legends this week.

Hibbert made his 19th European outing for Everton in the 1-0 win at AEK Athens on Wednesday that secured progress to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

It meant the defender, who excelled as a makeshift centre-back, matched the club record for appearances in European competition held jointly by Colin Harvey and Brian Labone.

Injury permitting, Hibbert is almost certain to set a new landmark when Everton host BATE Borisov in the final group match in a fortnight.

And the 28-year-old, who made his European debut against Villarreal in 2005, said: “It does feel a great achievement to equal their record.

“They are legends, so to equal the 19 games of them shows what the club has done and how we have done in Europe in the last three or four years.

“It’s a nice record to have, and hopefully I can go on to beat it if I can avoid injury now. The squad that we have now and the way we are playing, we’ve shown in Europe we have the experience.

“I don’t see any reason why I can’t have the chance to make more appearances.”

On a soggy evening in Greece, Everton earned only their second win in 12 games with Hibbert superbly marshalling the defence to a first clean sheet in 13.

And the defender believes “confidence is booming” among David Moyes’s squad with the victory coming days after their encouraging display in Sunday’s derby defeat.