In mitigation, Rodwell wasn’t the only Everton player below par on Saturday, with the demands of the recent international break contributing to a series of underwhelming performances from several more experienced colleagues.

None more so than Joseph Yobo, whose difficult week on and off the field was compounded by the error, under pressure from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, in allowing a goal kick from Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to drift over his head that gave Kevin Doyle the chance to put the visitors in front on 76 minutes.

Even the in-form Louis Saha struggled to make an impact, neutered by veteran Wolves centre-back Jody Craddock, who was only playing due to the illness of Michael Mancienne.

To be fair, Saha was offered only scraps to feed on during the first half, operating as a lone striker with a strangely timid Everton ostensibly starting with five defenders. In contrast, Wolves had two up front, and it helped the visitors enjoy the better of a low-key opening 45 minutes, Tim Howard parrying a Doyle shot and Ebanks-Blake screwing one effort narrowly wide.

Everton, while rarely convincing, did create early on, Saha heading a Leighton Baines corner over moments after Tim Cahill blazed horribly over with just Hennessey to beat after the ball had broken off Saha from Sylvain Distin’s searching pass.

Matters improved greatly once Moyes bolstered the attack by introducing Yakubu at half-time, with Saha soon twice testing Hennessey.

But Everton’s main threat increasingly came from Bilyaletdinov. The physical nature of the Premier League has evidently come as a culture shock to the slight Russian but such worries dissipate when the ball is at his feet. Bilyaletdinov drew a smothering save from Hennessey as he sought to convert a diagonal Baines ball, and it was his clever pass that gave Yakubu the chance to shoot wastefully across the face of goal.

The versatile Russian was deployed on both flanks on Saturday, and it was from the right wing that he ghosted in unmarked to slot home substitute Jo’s low cross from the left with just two minutes remaining after good initial work from Cahill. Bilyaletdinov’s debut goal in England, Everton will hope it is the first of many.

Wolves were reduced to 10 men during the closing stages when substitute Stefan Maierhofer, only moments after being booked for a foul on Cahill, tangled with Howard and was dismissed by referee Stuart Attwell.

Howard, though, could count himself a touch fortunate for not also being red-carded for his uncharacteristic reaction of pushing Maierhofer to the turf by raising a hand to the back of his head. Moyes will have been pleased that, in the absence of many other usual traits from his players, the character and determination not to be beaten remains thankfully present.

But, as those traipsing out of Goodison at the weekend know all too well, it will take more than that for Everton to begin challenging among the Premier League upper echelons once again.