The Goodison outfit are languishing in 14th place, although it was from that position exactly 12 months ago that Everton began their steady climb up the table before securing a successive fifth-place finish.

And Moyes says: “I can’t see this season as a lost cause. Our points total is very similar to this time last year. I get the feeling people will see our season as a lost cause because of the improvement by Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Sunderland, but I can’t.

“Maybe, without knowing, we are in the process of building a new side. Maybe we are building again. The injured players might not be the same when they come back, who knows? We are in the throes of transition just now.

“It might well be that we finish mid-table but it would be wrong of me to have that as my ambition. My ambition is to finish as high as I possibly can. That hasn’t altered. We are the kind of footballing side that could easily go on a run and I hope that’s about to start.

“First of all I’ve got to get back to a side that is resilient and hard to beat, and much tougher to play against than we are at the moment. At the moment I think we are too easy to play against.”

The hectic schedule – Everton are coming towards the end of a period of seven games in 23 days – has meant there has been little time to work on regaining those obdurate traits.

“I’ll not make any excuses for it but where do you get the time between these last few games?” says Moyes. “The back four in the last few games, with Tony Hibbert having to play at left-back, is not the back four of the last few years. If we can get back to a resemblance of normality I would hope that would give us some stability.

“The hardest part is when you go out on the training field and have only a small number of players to work with.”

Among those to have found their form questioned this season is Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian’s preparations were hampered by a summer virus, and he has taken time to get into his stride.

However, there have been signs during the past week – most notably with his fine goal in the defeat at Bolton Wanderers last Sunday – that Fellaini is rediscovering his mojo.

And Moyes says: “I don’t think his form was great at the start but I think it has improved in recent weeks and he’s doing better in the games. I know what people were saying after Benfica where he had a good first half but obviously you have to play well the entire game.

“There are signs of his form coming back. He scored at the weekend and he got nine goals for us last season which were all very important. Him and Tim Cahill are vital to our goals tally.

“Tim had a few chances against Stoke too. They are both important to us and, strangely, they are both probably at their best when playing higher up the pitch and closer to the top end than the back.

“Sometimes they can impact on each other. Right now we don’t have the option to make too many changes but I think we can play them together. Their best spell last season was when they both played together as unorthodox strikers.”