IT SEEMS every silver lining has a cloud for David Moyes. No sooner does he discover a new striking talisman, he still finds himself bemoaning bad old habits.

Eyebrows were raised when the Goodison manager brought Louis Saha from Manchester United shortly before the transfer deadline last month.

Given the Frenchman’s chronic fitness problems of recent years, many feared it was a gamble too far for a team already beset by an over-subscribed treatment room and a threadbare squad.

Moyes, though, is convinced that even if Saha is fit for only half of this season, the striker’s contribution will justify the £2m Everton could eventually pay for his services.

And on this early evidence, the Goodison manager may well prove vindicated.

Emerging for his debut at half-time with Everton 2-0 down, Saha inspired his new colleagues to a rousing second-half comeback and a hard-earned point at promoted Hull City.

That such a rescue act was required will have a caused a worryingly familiar headache for Moyes, who watched his creaking defence concede a brace of avoidable goals for the third times in eight days.

As was demonstrated against Standard Liege in midweek, the spirit and togetherness that has been the bedrock of Everton’s successes in recent season remains very much intact.

Credit, too, must go to Moyes for the attack-minded half-time introduction of both Saha, who replaced defensive midfield Segundo Castillo, and Joleon Lescott, who paid the price for his poor start to the campaign by being benched.

But the defence cannot be bailed out forever. Moyes knows it, and the players know it. And with their Uefa Cup and Carling Cup aspirations on the line in the next 10 days, not to mention the trifling matter of a Merseyside derby, any further shortcomings will surely be exposed.

Perhaps it was a hangover from their European endeavours, but Everton lacked the sharpness, purpose and hunger of Hull until they slipped two goals behind.

In some ways, that shouldn’t be a surprise. With Tim Cahill and Leon Osman patently short of full match fitness and new signings Marouane Fellaini and Castillo acclimatising to life in the Premier League, there’s little doubt Everton are operating way short of their full potential.

But, given the threadbare nature of the squad, what other options does Moyes have at his disposal?

That said, it ultimately worked in Everton’s favour with Cahill and Osman scoring within four minutes of each other in the final quarter to drag the visitors level.

As Phil Jagielka contended last week, it seems Everton have to score three to win a game at present.

Moyes’ men have now gone 11 games since a clean sheet and, unless matters improve markedly, they’ll be waiting just as long for the next one.

Lescott was the first major casualty of that poor run, dropped from a Premier League starting line-up for the first time since the visit of Blackburn Rovers 13 months and 38 games ago.

But his replacement Leighton Baines fared no better, and Lescott was back on the field for the start of the second half, introduced along with Saha in a double substitution that Hull manager Phil Brown correctly pinpointed as turning the game in Everton’s favour.

The warnings were there from the second minute for the visitors, when Peter Halmosi, a constant threat down the Hull left, crossed for Bernard Mendy to head unmarked at Tim Howard.

Mendy was then wasteful when shooting high and wide from a good position before Hull went ahead on 18 minutes with, from Everton’s point of view, yet another sloppy goal.

A corner from Dean Marney – a former Tottenham player whose only goals for the Londoners came against Everton almost four years ago – was swung to the far post where Fellaini was beaten in the air by Michael Turner, whose header dropped over Howard and Osman on the line.

Simple hopeful punts caused continual consternation in the Everton defence as Hull’s robust strikeforce of Marlon King and debutant Daniel Cousin wreaked havoc.

King curled a free-kick wide from 20 yards while Cousin found far too much space in the area to reach Halmosi’s pass, Jagielka recovering sufficiently to deflect his shot over.

It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though. Arteta shot at Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, Osman dragged a shot wide from a Neville ball from the right and, shortly after falling behind, Fellaini headed Neville’s cross down for Yakubu to crack a first-time volley that was parried out by Myhill.

However, Everton’s half was encapsulated when Cahill inadvertently got in the way of a goalbound Osman volley.

And it got worse five minutes after the break. Once more, a Marney corner from the left wasn’t dealt with and, as Howard prepared to punch clear, a touch from Neville’s head was enough to divert the ball against the goalkeeper’s hands and into the net.

Two down, Everton had no option but to flood players forward. And with Saha making an immediate impact, they slowly turned the screw.

Saha had an effort saved by Myhill and Lescott blasted over from range before Cahill pulled a goal back for the Blues on 73 minutes.

With Hull panicking in defence, Osman’s shot was only cleared to the Australian inside the area. Cahill’s shot took a touch off goalkeeper Myhill on to the crossbar, with the referee’s assistant adjudging the ball had crossed the line before it bounced back out. It was a close call, but the correct one.

Four minutes later Everton levelled with a well crafted strike. Yakubu exchanged passes with Saha down the left before crossing for Osman to improvise a volley beyond Myhill from close range.

The game was now Everton’s to win. Saha hit the sidenetting and Osman smashed over, but defeat would have been harsh on Hull despite the visitors’ rousing comeback.

Moyes, though, knows that unless his team’s defending quickly improves, two possible routes to a silver lining for this season are in danger of being closed in the next fortnight.