EVERTON assistant manager Steve Round has revealed how last month’s defeat to Wigan marked a turning point in their season.

The 1-0 loss at the JJB Stadium marked a low point in the campaign, with manager David Moyes on the receiving end of travelling fans’ fury after the game.

But that below-par performance has been wiped out by two 1-0 wins at Tottenham and Manchester City, which came either side of a 3-2 home defeat by Aston Villa in which the performance wasn’t rewarded by the result.

The recent resurgence will stand the toughest test possible tonight against a Chelsea side looking to go top of the Premier League with their ninth successive away win of the season.

But Round is confident that this could be the ideal time to take on Phil Scolari’s side given the way Everton have moved on from the loss to Wigan.

“You could say the Wigan defeat was a kick up the backside,” said Round.

“We’d had a good run and we went there feeling confident. It was a performance that none of us expected.

“We knew we had to move forward from it.

“Now the whole team’s defending well, the whole team’s attacking well.

“We’re very pleased with the way the team have come through it.”

Victory at City was all the convincing Round needed of how much improvement Everton have made over the past few weeks.

They may have had to wait until injury time for Tim Cahill’s winner but he is convinced that was a game they would not have won in the difficult early days of the campaign.

Round said: “We looked back to our best against Manchester City.

“Early on in the season we made a few individual errors. We were not quite ready and the new signings had not slotted in.”

Round has had first-hand experience of the formidable calibre of tonight’s opponents.

The 38-year-old was a coach under Steve McLaren at Middlesbrough then worked with him in the England set-up.

Working closely in that environment with John Terry and Frank Lampard has opened his eyes to the dedication and commitment that has underpinned their success at Stamford Bridge.

“Frank Lampard is an exceptional player,” said Round. “I did little bits of extra work with Frank because he always wanted to go the extra mile.

“He’s very professional – he’s the role model for every young player.

“He has this great work ethic and always wants to be as good as he can be.

“John Terry is a real leader. A really good guy. He was very coachable and wanted to learn.

“He wanted to listen and wanted to put the time and the effort in.