Moyes happy with new benchmark

Jan 2 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

DELIGHTED David Moyes believes Everton demonstrated their strength in depth with victory at Middlesbrough yesterday.

Two goals in five minutes midway through the second half from Andrew Johnson and James McFadden earned a deserved 2-0 win at the Riverside.

Both goalscorers had been drafted into the starting line-up as Moyes grappled with the absence of five key players.

Already without the suspended Mikel Arteta and injured duo Thomas Gravesen and Leon Osman, his selection options were further limited when Tim Cahill and Joseph Yobo were forced out ahead of yesterday’s game.

And Moyes has praised the way his much-changed team responded to Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat to Arsenal.

“The players have done well over Christmas, so today was an important three points for us,” said the Everton manager.

“Coming up here without so many players and winning, it shows we haven’t been too affected by the last game (against Arsenal).

“Cahill, Osman, Arteta and Gravesen weren’t available, so we only had Lee Carsley and Steven Pienaar as recognised midfielders.

“It was a professional job. We scored a couple of half-decent goals in the end so I was pleased with the win.

“It was a big thing that we had a few out injured, and the result shows the depth of the squad and what we have available to us.

“The players who came in did really well in difficult conditions.”

Johnson struck the opener on 67 minutes with his fifth goal of the season, with McFadden netting his first league strike since August 25 five minutes later.

Middlesbrough had come close after half-time when Tim Howard made an excellent save to deny Gary O’Neil.

And Moyes added: “The first half was a stalemate and wasn’t as exciting as we have played recently. We had a few changes and were always struggling to get a balance to the team because of the players we had available to us.

“It took us a wee while to get going and the turning point of the game was probably the clearance off the line by Joleon and the save by Tim Howard.

“From that period we went on, and in the second half we did much better.”

Moyes again refused to be drawn on McFadden’s future, with Celtic rumoured to be lining up a fresh move for the Scotland international amid reports of a new contract for the Scot.

“James plays for Everton and scored a goal today, and that’s all I’m going to talk about,” said the Goodison manager. “His performance today was good. And I thought Yakubu was fantastic today. He led the line magnificently and Steven Pienaar did well too.”

The 2-0 success was Everton’s 11th away win of the campaign so far in all competitions and moved them up to fifth in the Premier League table, a point behind neighbours Liverpool. Of his team’s top-four chances, Moyes added: “They told us it was a fluke the last time we finished fourth so we’ll see about that. The competition is very tough and we aren’t kidding ourselves about it.”

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side were always up against it once Johnson had given Everton the lead.

“There was nothing in it during the first three quarters but as is often the case in a game at the end of the Christmas period it was the first goal that proved crucial,” he said.

“We knew it would be a tough game. They are a very good side, have a lot of players in the prime of their playing career and strength in depth and we knew we would have to be at our best to beat them.

“It’s a huge frustration that they scored with their only two real shots.”