The longer it goes without knowing the government's plans and, at the same time, continued inactivity on the transfer front, the stronger the suspicions grow that the immediate playing futures of several players depend as much on decisions made in Whitehall as those at Finch Farm.

The confusion over whether Everton have indeed accepted a bid for Andy Johnson from Fulham also serves to muddy the waters even further. The impression is that the club have made it clear that he can go, and when he pulled out of the squad for the Preston game that seemed to only confirm that feeling.

However, Keith Wyness and David Moyes seem to be at pains to say that the player is staying put.

Again, it makes you start to wonder – will a favourable decision over Kirkby mean that there is no need to cash in on one of our most saleable assets to fund other deals? Or are Everton simply trying to play a number of clubs off against each other in order to eke the last dime out the transfer?

Moyes will certainly need a substantial wedge of cash from somewhere if he is to fund the acquisition of the five or six players he says that he requires.

Until he does get them he may need to keep relying on the youngsters who have been getting some invaluable experience during the pre-season matches.

The Premier League will obviously represent a massive step up for any of them, but they showed against experienced opposition at Deepdale on Tuesday night that they will never be found wanting in terms of effort. They did themselves proud from start to finish, with Lukas Jutkiewicz running himself into the ground up front and Dan Gosling showing some real quality as well as tenacity in the centre of midfield.