ALL the pre-match talk on Sunday was about the eagerly-anticipated debuts of record signing Marouane Fellaini and Segundo Castillo.

But in typical fashion Tim Cahill stole the show by marking his return with the winning goal after a shock recall following six months on the sidelines.

Cahill had been out with a foot injury since hobbling off the field just 10 minutes into the home clash with West Ham back on March 22 but it came as no surprise when he popped up to head in the match-winner 13 minutes from full-time.

While Everton’s increased standing in the Premier League in recent years has enabled them to recruit exotic superstars such as Fellaini and Castillo, Cahill, who learnt his trade in English football’s lower divisions with Millwall, remains just as crucial to the cause.

Acquired during another tough summer back in 2004, it’s no fluke that the Australian’s dynamic displays over the following four years have coincided with a major upturn in fortunes for Moyes’s side.

In anticipation of this visit to the Britannia Stadium, David Moyes declared that “the season starts here” for his side and with Everton manager finally able to call on some fresh faces it looks like he’s right.

Enduring a frustrating summer in the transfer market, the Scot was forced to name line-ups for the first three Premier League matches of the season without any new additions to an injury-hit squad that had not yet replaced first team departures Lee Carsley and Andrew Johnson.

But some late and significant business enabled Moyes to call upon the new most expensive player in Everton’s history, £15million 20-year-old Belgian international Fellaini for the first time plus on-loan Ecuadorian Castillo as well as Cahill.

The introduction of that trio enabled Moyes to substantially restructure his midfield from the teams he fielded in August and he named a positive-looking line-up against the newly-promoted Potters, retaining a two-man strike-force but replacing James Vaughan with Victor Anichebe alongside Yakubu up front – although the Beijing Olympic silver medallist spent most of the afternoon employed down the right flank.