IT wasn’t just the shirts that were purple in the Everton dressing room at White Hart Lane last night.

Even before kick-off, David Moyes was still seething at the decision of Carling Cup organisers to force his players into three crucial games inside six days.

And his mood would only have worsened as his exhausted, makeshift team slumped out of the competition against Tottenham Hotspur.

Missing 10 senior players, this was always going to be a big ask for an Everton team imposed a ridiculous schedule by the fixture planners.

That the Goodison outfit lost all three of their games during the last week suggests Moyes’s displeasure, initially voiced the previous weekend, was entirely justified.

From enjoying a seven-match unbeaten run, Everton are now ensconced in the lower half of the Premier League table with perhaps their most likely route to silverware now closed.

Unlike many other clubs, Moyes has always treated the Carling Cup with the greatest respect. A pity, then, that the same courtesy could not be afforded to his team.

This wasn’t a beating in the vein handed out by Benfica in the Europa League last Thursday.

Instead, it had more in common with Sunday’s loss at Bolton Wanderers, Everton once more ultimately undone by some uncharacteristically poor defending and individual errors, the backline having shipped 10 goals in those three defeats.

No matter how Moyes mixed and matched his limited defensive resources, Tottenham found a way through too often, Sylvain Distin struggling desperately to keep the rearguard together.

Defeats sap confidence, and even Everton’s renowned resolves of character and determination will be tested to the limit.

It was inevitable a horrific injury list would catch up with a squad stretched to breaking point.

But the most recent glut of absentees have arrived at precisely the wrong time, the failure of Louis Saha to emerge for the second half with a calf problem adding to the woe.

Everton were not without their chances last night, and it was galling both of Tottenham’s goals – netted in either half by Tom Huddlestone and Robbie Keane – were scored within moments of the visitors spurning clear opportunities.