THIS certainly isn’t getting any easier.

Wigan Athletic were meant to be our home banker; our problem is meant to be breaking down the well-drilled packed midfield merchants, not sides like Roberto Martinez’s naïve bottlers.

Coming right after the rousing finale at Stamford Bridge as well, where Everton could easily have taken all three points, everyone thought that the Blues would have far too much for the Latics, but instead it was yet another grim afternoon at Goodison Park.

None of the strikers are covering themselves in glory at the moment, and the search is apparently on for a cheap forward available in January, but in all honesty the problems are deeper than that.

The fact is, the Blues really don’t actually create that many clear openings even when they are on top in games. Granted, they often enjoy long periods of possession in matches, but you rarely get that unmistakable sense that they are totally in control and that a goal is imminent.

Apart from one brief flurry, Wigan were relatively comfortable throughout on Saturday, and Everton more or less surrendered all their creativity when Steven Pienaar limped off.