THERE’S an old saying that states that if your mother’s sister were anatomically different then she would in fact be your uncle and not your aunt.

That’s the clean version, anyway, but watching David Moyes whenever he’s asked whether he thinks about how the season might have panned out differently if it hadn’t been for all players missing at the start, he looks almost tempted to blurt out the more familiar alternative.

There’s no way of knowing what might have been, so what’s the point of dwelling on conjecture?

Injuries are all part and parcel of football anyway, and how you deal with them is a big test of a manager’s mettle.

No-one was talking about the injuries on Sunday, for instance, and yet Everton were without two of their leading scorers and their record signing. Clearly coping with some absences is easier than others though.

Ayegbeni Yakubu, despite his wayward finishing, had his best game since returning from his injury, deputising for Louis Saha, while Johnny Heitinga and Jack Rodwell looked decent stand-ins for Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill.

It was Mikel Arteta though who showed just why he is the closest thing to irreplaceable that Everton have. Even though the Spaniard still hasn’t regained his little burst of pace yet, he’s simply got so much inate talent that Hull City just couldn’t get near him.