SLOGGING around in a quagmire against a team of willing monsters is probably not the recommended preparation for a cup semi-final, but nonetheless Everton will take some encouragement from their hard-fought win at the JJB Stadium.
It wasn’t so much winning ugly as winning grotesquely – the footballing equivalent of Amy Winehouse’s new blond bombshell look.
Everton’s goal at the moment though is merely to keep up with their competitors while three of their best players are out representing their countries in the African Nations' Cup.
Any side would miss individuals of the quality of Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Joseph Yobo and Steven Pienaar, so it should come as no surprise then if the Blues do struggle at times.
That said, even that trio would have found it hard going in the mud in Wigan, so it is testimony to the spirit of the rest of the squad that they took advantage of the home side’s weaknesses, punished them ruthlessly and then had enough courage to withstand the clumsy assaults of the second half, particularly in the spell just after Phil Jagielka’s unlucky own goal.
The result sees Everton up into fourth place, at least for a day, and a little bit of extra pressure on both Liverpool and Aston Villa ahead of their clash at Anfield tonight.
The accepted wisdom is that Liverpool will eventually win their games in hand and sweep up the table and end up closer to the big three than the rest of the pack are to them, but as we are all aware, the present situation is hardly without precedent.
Now Evertonians seem to know far better than their compatriots across the park that it’s folly to take anything for granted in this game, but we all remember three seasons ago when an Everton team far less accomplished than this present one defied everyone’s expectations and finished in fourth place.
If David Moyes’s side can stay within touching distance of their nearest and dearest, as well as Manchester City and Aston Villa, then is there any reason why they can’t push on with the return of Yakubu et al and leave Liverpool needing to either win the Champions League or else get another rule change to guarantee their participation next season?
For Everton there is less pressure than Liverpool.
Wembley would be great, further progress in the UEFA Cup is also desirable, and qualification via the league for the same competition next season is verging on a must.
No-one at Goodison was really looking at fourth place at the start of the season though, so there’s certainly no way Keith Wyness has budgeted for it.
Can the same be said about his counterparts at Anfield though? Given their massive spending on the likes of Fernando Torres in the summer, in addition to the debts that their American owners are in the process of saddling them with, is the prospect of not having those lucrative Champions League group games next season even worth contemplating?
That’s an awfully big responsibility that Rafael Benitez and his players have to shoulder from now until the end of the season.
The whole unseemly scramble for fourth place looks like it could certainly go down to the wire anyway, and only time will tell how much it will be influenced by Wigan defender Titus Bramble.
The ex-Ipswich man provides more car crash moments than the Indy 5000 and more laughs than his other old club, Newcastle United.
His goal at Anfield saw Liverpool drop two points recently while the voices in his head once again persuaded him to do the one thing he really shouldn’t have against Everton, allowing Andy Johnson to score and set up the victory.
