THE last time Hull City won at Goodison, war-time rationing was still in place.

And their visit yesterday showed what Everton have been missing this season.

David Moyes’s side may have navigated their campaign back on track with a comprehensive dismantling of Phil Brown’s Hull to secure a record-equalling sixth successive home Premier League triumph.

But the jubilation of Evertonians heading contentedly home will have been tinged with a tangible sense of what might have been.

Mikel Arteta’s talismanic presence has been undoubted ever since arriving at Goodison more than five years, yet it was only during an almost year-long absence with a serious knee injury that his influence has been truly recognised.

Pressed back into action through necessity rather than design, Arteta has had no option but to rediscover his form, touch and fitness amid the intense glare of first-team football.

Now the Spaniard is back. Arteta netted a brace yesterday – his first goals since netting against Aston Villa on February 15 last year – and was heavily involved in Everton’s third while demonstrating the artistry and craft that have become his trademark.

With his wife Lorena Barnel and young son Gabriel watching from the stands, it was perfect timing from Arteta.

And it was the ideal response from Everton to consecutive setbacks against Sporting Lisbon and Tottenham Hotspur, particularly with Moyes having held a summit with his squad last week aimed at preventing their season drifting aimlessly to an unsatisfying conclusion.

The return of Arteta – and that of Phil Jagielka, who made his first start since his own knee injury last April – gave Everton’s starting line-up a reassuringly familiar look that has been lacking throughout much of the campaign.

But it was one of the most recent arrivals that drew the loudest chants, the sounds of “sign him up” booming from all four corners of the ground when Landon Donovan followed his late strike by creating Everton’s fifth for Jack Rodwell.