HALF empty grounds, flat atmospheres, humdrum games and icy temperatures; don’t you just love the early rounds of the Carling Cup?

As others hunt the riches on offer via the Premier League and Champions League, the first big domestic trophy of the season has lost its sheen in the past few years but you won’t find anyone from Everton arguing about its position in the calendar.

Certainly not James McFadden.

While Everton’s third round tie with Sheffield Wednesday is unlikely to live long in the memory of those who saw it last night – be thankful it wasn’t on television – the Scotland international is likely to be an exception.

Grasping a rare chance to start with both hands, McFadden’s slick performance at Hillsborough ensured a potentially troublesome task was negotiated with little difficulty and helped Everton to a win that could have plenty of positive spin-offs.

Having struggled for form in the past 10 days – their league position has been dented and European ambitions hang in the balance – victory of any sort would have been acceptable in South Yorkshire.

That it was achieved so smoothly in the end and contained a first clean sheet of the campaign however, will have thrilled manager David Moyes and it could just be the result that gets Everton’s momentum going again.

Make no mistake, some felt the Blues were ripe for a giant killing and for 45 minutes it appeared as if they would go the way of Manchester United and Aston Villa.

That they did not was down to the work of McFadden and his partner in crime Yakubu.

Sharing the goals between them and linking with purpose, they have given Moyes the kind of poser he wants to be dealing with and if the Carling Cup can provide selection dilemmas for him, so much the better.

There is absolutely no doubt now that his squad will be fired up for their next two assignments after last night’s fillip.

Though Moyes made five changes to the side that had been beaten at Villa Park on Sunday, it was not to blood youngsters as others do.

If anything, the opposite was true as old heads Alan Stubbs, Lee Carsley and Nuno Valente returned.

Stubbs’ presence in the back four, not surprisingly, brought a solidity in the middle of the defence that had been lacking against Aston Villa and Metalist Kharkiv; barking out orders, lunging into challenges and demanding the best from his colleagues.

Yakubu and McFadden were the men charged with giving Everton the cutting edge that has been missing in recent weeks but, other than a couple of speculative shots, the Blues’ threat was minimal early on.

In fact, the only incident of note in a mind-numbingly dull first half was Tony Hibbert being booked for an innocuous tussle with Wade Small on 36 minutes.

Honestly. It really was that bad.

There was, at least, something to talk about during the break as a school of thought suggested Hibbert was fortunate not to pick up a second yellow card from referee Rob Styles after he clattered into Small again shortly after the first skirmish.

At best, it was ill-advised but mindful not to incur a needless suspension, Moyes opted to end Hibbert’s night at the interval and pitched Phil Neville into the fray for the second period.

Enjoying an outstanding 45 minutes, the skipper helped start the transformation.

Mercifully, the action improved dramatically but then again it would have been difficult to be any worse.

Leon Osman failed by inches to get on the end of Steven Pienaar’s cross, while Phil Jagielka cracked a drive straight at Lee Grant.

That brief flurry seemed to rattle the Championship strugglers and at the same time gave Everton a visible injection of confidence.

It was no coincidence, then, that they took the lead just before the hour.

Putting together the first move of genuine quality, Pienaar’s slide rule pass set Yakubu galloping clear and he selflessly squared for McFadden to roll in his second goal of the campaign.

The Scottish international has his detractors but there has been mounting evidence since the start of the season that he is ready to become the player that many believed he would when he burst onto the scene in this competition against Stockport four years ago.

After his heroics for Scotland earlier this month, McFadden’s confidence is on a high and this cameo won’t have harmed him either.

What little atmosphere the home supporters had generated to that point was deflated in an instant and there seemed an acceptance around Hillsborough that Everton would canter through to the next round.

While that wasn’t exactly the case, the Toffees did not have too much trouble hanging on to their lead, particularly as Stubbs was the game’s dominant performer – his last gasp block to thwart Deon Burton summing up his efforts.

That proved to be Wednesday’s last chance and McFadden ended the game as a contest in the 84th minute, heading in Neville’s cross before he turned provider 60 seconds later.

His pass sent Yakubu sprinting clear to put the gloss on their efforts.

McFadden’s efforts will ensure that he captures the headlines but there was much to like about Yakubu’s response to being dropped on Sunday. He will never win awards for the amount of miles covered during a game but this was a vast improvement.

Sentiments which apply to the performance as a whole.

True, much bigger tests lie in wait – notably in Ukraine next Thursday – yet this could just be the tonic which was needed to get things going again.

Only after that game will we be able to accurately judge what kind of impact this win had but, as a starting point, it will certainly do.

And, who knows, in a few weeks it could be that this game is looked upon as the launch of the deadly duo.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (4-4-2): Grant; Simek, Hinds, Wood, Gilbert; Johnson (Burton 68), Whelan, Kavanagh (Lunt 80), Small; Tudgay, Jeffers (Sodje 72).

EVERTON (4-4-2): Wessels; Hibbert (Neville 46), Stubbs, Lescott, Valente (Baines 64); Pienaar, Carsley, Jagielka, Osman; Yakubu (Anichebe 86), McFadden.

Bookings - Hibbert (36), Jagielka (73)

REFEREE: Rob Styles (Hampshire).

ATTENDANCE: 16,463.