CSS li.before circle within coloured box just as li text - css

Question

I might be going about this the wrong way, but what I'm trying to achieve is a list style horizental that links in with some js that changes the navigation from one tab to another. The tab headings should have a counter before the text within a css circle using radius and I've got this far.
What I can't seem to resolve is how to then place this circle within a box the same colour as the li text background and ensure it changes colour when hovered/selected.
Here's my code so far:
OL.evotab {
counter-reset:li;
list-style: none;
float:left;
width:100%;
padding:0px;
}
OL.evotab LI {
list-style:none;
position:relative;
display: inline;
float:left;
margin:0 0 6px 2em;
padding:4px 8px;
}
ol.evotab > li:before {
content:counter(li); /* Use the counter as content */
counter-increment:li; /* Increment the counter by 1 */
/* Position and style the number */
position:absolute;
top:-2px;
left:-2em;
-moz-box-sizing:border-box;
-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;
box-sizing:border-box;
width:2em;
/* Some space between the number and the content in browsers that support
generated content but not positioning it (Camino 2 is one example) */
margin-right:8px;
padding:4px;
border-radius:50%;
color:#fff;
background:#666;
font-weight:bold;
font-family:"Helvetica Neue", Arial, sans-serif;
text-align:center;
}
OL.evotab LI A {
background-color: #f8f8f8;
color: #28343d;
text-decoration: none;
padding-top: 30px;
padding-left:20px;
padding-right:20px;
padding-bottom:30px;
border-bottom:5px solid #dfdfdf;
}
OL.evotab LI A.selected,
OL.evotab LI A:hover {
background-color: #f8f8f8;
color: #e51f38;
padding-top: 30px;
padding-bottom:30px;
border-bottom: 5px solid #e51f38;
}
OL.evotab LI A:focus {
outline: 0;
}

Answer 1

FIDDLE
Its a little difficult to see what you mean without any HTML....but have a look at the fiddle linked for an idea.
HTML
<a href='#'>This is an Item</a>
CSS:
a {
background:grey;
border:1px solid black;
display:inline-block;
padding:20px;
color:white;
text-decoration:none;
position:relative;
}
a:before {
content:'7';
color:black;
position:absolute;
display:inline-block;
background:yellow;
border:1px solid black;
border-radius: 999px;
left:-5px;
width:20px;
text-align:center;
line-height:20px;
height:20px;
}
a:hover, a:hover:before {
color:red;
}