West Brom captain Darren Fletcher has described Jonny Evans as one of the best defenders he has ever played with.
Evans followed Fletcher to the Hawthorns in August after the pair spent more than a decade together at Manchester United, where the 27-year-old centre-back won three Premier League titles.
Evans' two appearances for Albion since his £6million arrival have brought successive clean sheets and Fletcher believes that is no fluke.
"Jonny is a fantastic signing. I spoke about it when he came and I was so excited when he signed," said the Scotland midfielder.
"He's a top player. A great leader and a good talker and I think it's a fantastic signing for the Albion and he's going to be a mainstay in that defence for a number of years and it's no coincidence that (clean sheets) and there's more to come as well.
"He's a great lad and I can't speak highly enough of him.
"I knew we were getting a top, top player. One of the best defenders I've ever played with at Manchester United and now here."
Fletcher admits that once he learned of West Brom's interest in Evans, he was desperate to do all he could to persuade him to sign.
"I was constantly on the phone to him. Probably doing his head in, I was phoning and texting him every day," he said.
However, Fletcher also revealed he has now been lumbered with some additional duties since his friend moved to the west midlands.
"I'm his personal driver too. I'm his chauffeur. That was part of the negotiations so I think he's struck lucky," he said.
"I'll pick him up and spoil him a little bit. He's always been good company, we're good friends, live very closely and families are very close so for me personally I was really happy when he came."
It remains to be seen whether both will play at Norwich in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday night.
Several unnamed players are nursing knocks following the Premier League win at Aston Villa and Albion head coach Tony Pulis has said he will be making changes for the third round tie.
One of the changes could be a debut for Anders Lindegaard, who would replace Boaz Myhill in goal. The likes of Jonas Olsson, James Chester, Craig Gardner, Rickie Lambert and Callum McManaman all began on the bench at Villa Park and come into contention for starting places.
Source: PA
