EVERTON are looking to reward Tony Hibbert’s long service with a testimonial match.

Hibbert has been a mainstay of the Goodison defence since making his debut as a 20-year-old at West Ham United back in March 2001.

And the idea has been raised at the club for a match to salute more than a decade of service from the right-back.

Hibbert, who is 31 next month, has made almost 300 appearances for Everton and is third on their all-time list for most Premier League outings.

Famously, Hibbert has yet to score a senior goal and has the dubious tag of playing the most amount of games without scoring for Everton, and possessing the longest run of games in the Premier League without a strike.

Hibbert has missed Everton’s last three games having suffered a groin strain during the home defeat to Bolton Wanderers earlier this month.

But he has resumed training this week and could press for a recall ahead of Saturday’s Premier League visit of Blackburn Rovers, easing an lengthy injury list for Everton manager David Moyes.

Moyes has been busy stretching his limited resources in the transfer window this month, signing Landon Donovan on a short-term loan and recruiting Republic of Ireland midfielder Darron Gibson from Manchester United for £500,000.

The Everton manager remains in the market for a striker and has taken 30-year-old United States international forward Edson Buddle on trial.

But suggestions he could bring David Weir back to Goodison to provide cover at centre-back have been played down.

Weir will leave Rangers tomorrow after agreeing a release from his contract and is targeting another stint in the Premier League.

But any return of the 41-year-old to Everton would not be as a player, although the Goodison outfit could ask Weir to bolster the coaching staff in the summer.

German side Wolfsburg have rekindled their interest in Diniyar Bilyaletdinov but would most likely have to improve their expected offer of £5million to sign the Russia international.