HAVING been the victim of high profile cup calamities in recent times after resting key players, a strong selection that resulted in a comfortable win to secure a fourth round place was just the tonic for the Toffees faithful this week.

The Blues were on a hiding to nothing in a game worryingly selected for live television coverage – something that usually indicates the tie has more than a whiff of an upset about it.

An early goal from Nikica Jelavic was enough to settle things down and precipitate a goal frenzy with the only fly in the ointment coming from the failure to keep a clean sheet for the 18th game on the spin.

The outcome of what was one of the of the most tepid and underwhelming FA Cup draws in living memory was an uninspiring away trip to either Bolton and Sunderland.

The transfer rumour frenzy is now in full swing with Championship Manager-style signatures ranging from Tomas Rosicky to Yossi Benayoun all mooted as potential acquisitions to the L4 playing staff.

The left sided, ball playing defender Vegard Forren sounds more like the type of player Moyes would look to in terms of being youthful, hungry and with potential sell on value.

If he was to come in its likely Jonny Heitinga would be the one traded to accommodate him. In truth its unlikely Heitinga’s fist pumping phoniness will be missed by too many Toffees given his wildly inconsistent time on Merseyside. There have been highs, notably in his first season and also last season when he was crowned player of year but he also served up some utter tripe during the season in between and also this campaign in which he has been a consistent liability.

Next up is a home clash with Michael Laudrup’s impressive Swansea. The Welsh outfit have a bit more variety to their play this season with a physical ‘Plan B’ and greater attacking incision to compliment their short passing game. The Swans have been hard to beat on the road and boast the best away defensive record in the division with just nine goals shipped all season.

Michu has proved to be the bargain of the season with 12 goals although the support of De Guzman and Hernandez has been crucial with eight assists between them.

The ex-Valenica man in particular has been very watchable and has the best through-ball accuracy in the top flight.

This will be a big test for the Blues.