Signs of life

Wayne Rooney: His first goal since August was vital both for him and the team

It says something about the state of Everton's season thus far when a victory at newly-promoted Portsmouth brings the amount of satisfaction and relief that the Blues' 2-1 success at Fratton Park did at the weekend.

Put simply, it was a huge win; not only was it our first away win of the season but we scored two goals on the road for the first time since August, and the manner in which they came from a goal behind also hints at a return to some of the spirit that carried David Moyes's team to a seventh-place finish last season.

And, of course, a certain Wayne Rooney's name appeared on the scoresheet for the first time in over three months, hopefully stemming some of the tiresome media drivel over whether or not it is in his or the club's best interests for him to stay at Goodison or make a big-money move to one of the Big Three.

Of course, that morale-boosting triumph and the steady progress the Blues have made since their humiliation at Bolton will amount to little if the complacency and bad habits creep back in and they fail to beat Leicester City who represent the last opportunity for comparatively easy points before a tricky festive programme.

Indeed, if Everton have any aspirations of finishing in the top half of the table or, better still, challenging for a European spot — sixth place is only six points away after all — then home fixtures against the likes of Leicester are the types of games they simply must win... with ease.

Of course, nothing is ever that cut-and-dried with Everton, but the slightly improved performance against Manchester City, the valiant cup defeat at Middlesbrough and the win over Pompey suggest that Moyes is getting his side back on the right track. He now has the opportunity to rally his players to do something they haven't yet managed this campaign: win two Premiership games back-to-back.

Apart from Rooney's return to scoring ways, the stand-out individual over the past three matches has been David Unsworth. It's amazing that the fans have known for years that Rhino's best position is central defence — after all, he earned his England call-up in 1995 on the back of his imperious displays in the back four in 1994-95 — and yet Walter Smith persisted with him at left back and David Moyes has taken 18 months to discover where he fits in best.

Whereas a couple of months ago the thought of offering Unsworth even another year's contract was unthinkable, now you would have to think that if the 31 year-old was able to work out a deal with a reduced salary to add another 12 months to his Goodison career the club would be very fortunate. Would it be premature to suggest that Moyes needn't now rush into the January sales to sign a central defender as cover for Joseph Yobo, particularly with Vikto Onopko still not being counted out as a possible addition to the squad and David Weir on the road to recovery?

We are entering a crucial phase of the campaign as we wait to see if the recent improvement in the Blues' form will take shape as a genuine revival and push up the table. Just two points separate us from 19th place, so it is especially important that we pick up vital points from the likes of Leicester City, as we have done against Wolves and Portsmouth. Even better is the fact that 10th place in the table is just four points away and if we can put a few past the Foxes, maybe we can surprise ourselves with a result in our worst fixture on the calendar — Manchester United away!

Lyndon Lloyd