PRIOR to kick-off Everton captain Phil Neville asked for a Scouse win on the X-Factor – and then promptly watched his side hit a bum note.

The Goodison Park side are becoming somewhat of a broken record as an inability to convert their chances in front of goal reared its ugly head once again.

Such travails could mean they are voted out the running for a European place before the turn of the year.

Wigan Athletic should not have posed David Moyes’ men much of a problem but as the game entered the dying stages goalkeeper Tim Howard was forced to spare the home side from further despair on their home soil.

Had Ronnie Stam’s close range effort not been palmed wide by the American, then it would have taught Everton a harsh but not unfamiliar lesson.

The case of Louis Saha is the wound which smarts the most with Everton fans because the Frenchman last season was a figure who had the clinical knack, someone Moyes could not live without.

Now Saha is fortunate to be in the side.

However the finger of blame, as Everton’s run of home form in the Premier League has harvested just two wins this term, can not be solely pointed at Saha.