IT’S all about how you deal with these days like these” was Bill Kenwright’s glum assessment of Everton’s first cup exit of the campaign.

And he should know. After all, shocks are nothing new at Goodison in recent years and in terms of getting over them, the chairman is in danger of seeing that activity overtake theatre as his main area of expertise.

But as Oldham Athletic joined Port Vale, Bradford, Oxford, Tranmere and Shrewsbury in the hall of shaming with their 1-0 victory on Saturday it soon became clear that this one might be easier to deal with than the others.

Because at least this time there is no sign of the ‘season over in January’ syndrome. Instead there is something to make the pain and embarrassment disappear quickly and that particular medicine comes in the form of tomorrow’s League Cup semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge.

And it’s now all about how Everton respond to the adversity, as they have done so well following the two defeats they suffered in the 17 games prior to Saturday’s tie.

Cast your mind back to a year ago and the most recent cup humiliation of them all, Blackburn’s 4-1 third round victory at Goodison.

All Everton had to look forward to then in the ensuing week was a brief, flag-waving visit from Sylvester Stallone.

This time the only box office attraction anyone is interested is the Wembley one and, no offence to Sly, it’s clear which one Evertonians would choose to help them get over an FA Cup debacle.

So the concerns of Saturday’s defeat can quickly be erased – but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few for David Moyes to ponder.

The Everton manager was already thinking about Tuesday before this game and will be ultra-focused on Chelsea now.

But he still wanted a professional job and would have liked to have seen a ruthless dispatching of a club in the bottom half of Coca-Cola League One.

And in his mind he picked a team that reflected the quality and depth of his squad – they should have had enough to win and the only reason Moyes was harshly taken to task on his selection was because they didn’t.

The manager altered less than half his outfield line-up from the New Year’s Day victory over Middlesbrough and the likes of Alan Stubbs, Leighton Baines, Thomas Gravesen, James McFadden and James Vaughan are hardly novices ripe for a cup shock.

Which is why Moyes won’t be too impressed at some of the performances he saw as his side struggled badly to level Gary McDonald’s superb chip at the end of first-half injury time.

Vaughan was clean though in the first minute but denied by Mark Crossley, still playing with the enthusiasm and energy of the 21-year-old who saved Gary Lineker’s penalty in the 1991 final.

But it took another 93 minutes for Everton go as close again. Vaughan seemed to lose his confidence and composure after that miss and it was his second-half replace-ment Yakubu who came within a post’s width of seal-ing a replay.

In between, Everton forced the issue but not clear-cut chances apart from James McFadden’s dribble and shot that ended with Kelvin Lomax scrambling the ball away on the line.

Balls fizzed across and bobbled around the penalty area but Oldham, led by the excellent former Tranmere player Reuben Hazell, defended heroically.

Such an abject failure to break through reflects badly on all the home side’s players but Gravesen might feel it more than most.

His second spell on Merseyside just hasn’t got going and, given a rare start, this was the ideal chance for the Dane to take a game by the scruff of the neck and convince that his loan form Celtic should be made permanent.

But he failed to do it, looking worryingly off the pace and unable to dictate possession, he made way with Vaughan in the 63rd minute as Moyes ditched his initial tactics to go for broke with Victor Anichebe and Yakubu charging into the forward line.

Stefan Wessels hardly pressed his claims either with a strangely shaky performance.

Out of position for the goal, hesitant on crosses and indecisive in some of his kicking, the German looked far more relaxed on his Premier League debut at home to Manchester United. Fine facing Ronaldo and Tevez, but Mark Allott and Dean Smalley? Reduced to a nervous wreck. As a result, Tim Howard will have had far fewer uncomfortable moments in his seat than anyone else in the Goodison stands after witnessing that.

But aside from individual failures, Everton just had trouble lifting themselves in general.

And that would be one way of explaining why, amidst all the Carling Cup exploits and the ease with which they have taken to the UEFA Cup, it’s League One opposition that has provided the biggest barrier this season.

Apart form the first leg against Metalist Kharkiv, Moyes’s men had won every cup game they had played this season inside 90 minutes, except the League Cup fourth round game at Luton, which they needed extra time to progress from.

Difficult to explain on paper, but events on the pitch suggest otherwise.

Simply, this was Oldham’s biggest game of this campaign and they played like it – for Everton it’s not even close.

How else does the FA Cup throw up inexplicable events like Saturday’s? John Sheridan had almost half a team missing from the one that took Leeds apart at Elland Road on New Year’s Day and they had to endure pre-match nerves for an extra half-hour as a chip shop fire on Goodison Road delayed kick-off.

But they were up for it, battling for every scrap as if their lives – not just a £75 win bonus – depended on it.

All of which was reflected in the performance of the forwards. Lee Hughes worked like a man grateful to get a second chance in life after a stint in prison, while his partner Craig Davies was the game’s outstanding performer, refusing to give Stubbs and Phil Jagielka a pause for breath.

They played some decent football too, with McDonald’s speculative strike rounding off a neat pattern of passing very much in the mould of their manager in his Sheffield Wednesday heyday.

But although they had won their previous six away games, they nor their brilliant 7,000 travelling fans could have imagined that they would do what their Premier League predecessors of the early 1990s failed to and leave Goodison Park as victors.

Everton probably couldn’t have either but at least Moyes will now ensure that being taken unawares is not even a remote possibility tomorrow night.

After all, Chelsea will be very different. But Everton simply have to be and, in the context of this season, you would be surprised if they were anything but.