NEVER mind Aintree. Any Everton supporter wanting to make a quick buck at the weekend should have taken a look at these inviting odds.

A cursory glance at a discarded betting slip following a hugely satisfying 90 minutes for David Moyes’s side revealed the chances of Jermaine Beckford scoring the first goal in a 3-0 win for the visitors were rated at a bookies-busting 100-1.

Throw in Phil Neville scoring his first away Premier League goal in almost a decade – and his first strike of any kind in three years – and it seemed a pretty unlikely afternoon in the Molineux sunshine.

But far from being a surprise, few could have quibbled with the eventual outcome as Everton continued to breathe down the neck of neighbours Liverpool while sending a sorry Wolverhampton Wanderers a step nearer a return to the Championship.

It’s almost certainly too late for the Goodison outfit to salvage anything tangible from a season that began with such great expectations yet has ended up in such depressingly familiar fashion.

Moyes, though, will take solace from the fact that initial belief appears not entirely misplaced.

Despite first-teamers seemingly dropping out of contention with the regularity of most people’s Grand National punts, Everton are now unbeaten in six league games since the abomination that was defeat at Bolton Wanderers in February.

Such growing impetus echoes the momentum gathered towards the end of last season, when Moyes’s side finished the campaign by losing just two of their final 24 games.

Yet it serves also to frustrate. Once again, with little to play for and no real pressure, Everton are now starting to pull out the results – an infuriating shortcoming Moyes is all too aware must be addressed if the long wait for silverware is to be ended.

Of course, you get what you pay for. But the creative transfer policy required as a direct consequence of the continued financial restraints has, in the long term, perversely aided Everton when an injury crisis has invariably struck.

With some notable exceptions, Moyes’s squad are of a consistent level throughout which, allied to the versatility of many of the players, has meant the Goodison outfit have been able to absorb a number of absentees.

But the recent raft of walking wounded has pushed that theory to breaking point, evidenced by the substitutes bench for last Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Aston Villa that consisted of seven players without a previous minute of Premier League experience.

With Victor Anichebe returning and Seamus Coleman dropping out, there was no change to the numbers at the weekend. That, though, has given a chance for certain fringe players to stake their claims; resulting in mixed fortunes, even for those who appeared to have grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Having been denied a perfectly good goal last week, Jermaine Beckford took only 21 minutes to send Everton on their way when expertly glancing home an inviting right-wing cross from the again impressive Leon Osman.