Roberto Martinez must preserve Everton's new-found pragmatic blueprint

Okay, we're not yet Atletico Madrid or even Leicester City but we're moving in the right direction. Our fire power has been pretty awesome all season and the addition of Niasse shouldn't do any harm.

At the other end the clean sheets are not a coincidence. McCarthy, Barry and Cleverley with help from Lennon are stifling the opposition across the width of the whole pitch. I wouldn't mind a Robert Huth type to help out at the back but at the moment I'm quite happy with the mobility and bravery of Jags, Funes Mori, Coleman and Oviedo.

All in all, two or three satisfying results with the promise of more to come. Lukaku is taking quite a battering up on his own and I was pleased to see him score from the spot. He's still the man defenders fear and the goal will have done his confidence a load of good. Let's hope he bangs in a few more in the games ahead.

Is it short term expediency or a long term genuine Sea Change.

Best stick with 'one game at a time' for the foreseeable future.

I do think though, that He and The Squad should be made, once a day until it sinks in, to watch a replay of The City Vs Leicester game. My personal opinion here, that was a performance that the 84-85 squad would readily claim as their own...that's how good it was.

As Mr Punch says...'That's the way to do it.' and it is too.

One game at a time I suppose, but at least this Evertonian is feeling a wee bit happier.

I think Robles has made a huge difference. Ok he hasn't had an awful lot to do but as a former centre half myself I would look at the way he patrols his area and feel he has it sorted- oozes confidence and authority.

Jags coming back has helped but the big difference for me is midfield. We have swapped Geri and Kone for Lennon and Cleverley which means we now have four players in midfield who will press hard to win the ball back. I am not knocking Geri and Arouna - I thought Arouna looked very good yesterday after he came on- but with four workers in midfield rather than two we are making it easier to defend.

Geri has to work on his fitness to become a regular starter and it will be a test of his resolve and ambition to see if he really wants to fulfill his huge potential. Lennon has shown that it is possible to run at great pace in a game and still work like a dog- what a great attitude he has. Another James McCarthy!

Final word for Oviedo- now looking the player he was before his leg break and no way Baines should displace him. His enthusiasm added to that of Lennon rubs off on the others and his delivery is better than Baines too.

But the big difference is, is having both Lennon & Cleverley out wide. They wouldn't be the first names picked out to play there by a lot of Evertonians but their work rate is a big plus. The pair of them don't mind getting back and putting a shift in and we looked a lot more compact and in unison when defending in 2 banks of four yesterday.

The way we have defended over the last few games hasn't just happened, it has been worked on so clearly Martinez can do that side of the game so why have we not done more of this all season? I'm pretty sure that if we had, we'd be right on the tails of the top four!

Also did anyone notice the routine at the corner for Coleman's goal? That was another thing that had been worked on! Jags spinning and running towards the back post, taking away Muniesa and confusing Wollschied whilst Coleman made the near post run, leaving defenders flat footed and he stuck the header away. Another thing Martinez can do and hasn't done enough of all season!

If we threw all this into the mix with the attacking play we can produce, then I'm sure we'd be an even better team and be on a par with the likes of Spurs!

Hopefully Martinez keeps these things up but we all know he's one for reverting back to type!

Baines is over, I think. His glory days are behind him now. He needs to transit to playing midfield if he wants to remain in the team.

Howard needs to make the long walk into the MLS wilderness...

However I don't see any tactical masterstroke by Martinez, it is just that the players that he has at his disposal are better at grinding out results than the ones he has been picking of late.

If you look at Jags, he hardly ever strays outside the width of the 18 yard box compared to the appalling positioning of the ill-disciplined Stones (despite what Rio Ferdinand tweets). This wasn't a tactical shift, it is simply a player doing his job properly. Martinez should have clamped down on Stones months ago instead of allowing him to stroll around like Socrates or Zico. So I will reserve judgement until Stones (and Howard) are available for selection.

Last season after going out of the Europa League we won 5 out of 6 league games and drawing the other, but we then went on to lose 3 out of the 4 final games. At present he is still very jekyll and hyde. If we can finish the season on around 60-63 points i'd say he will have learned because we will have maintained a consistent points return.

It could be worse this weekend: www.thisisanfield.com is not a happy place! Let's enjoy the ascendancy while we have it, and dream of spanking them at Anfield.

They are a decent set of fixtures in which to pick up points. I know it's coming to the business end of the season and the teams above are going to be really fighting for either survival or European places, but these are winnable games. These teams have been poor to average at best all season.

If we continue with our current style of play, we have more than enough on the pitch and bench, even with our injury list, to pick up at least ten points. The way this weird PL season has gone, this might get us back into the fight for a European spot.

Such inconsistency and disappointment had been a feature of the Roberto reign.

Stones, a great talent but directly responsible for a few goals against this season. I'm sure we have all played with great talents who by their very nature always give opponents a chance.

I played Sunday league for years as a defender "Thou salt not pass" was my mantra – Funes Mori & Jags seem to agree.

An excellent post if Martinez can learn to be pragmatic when required as well being expansive when required we have a good chance of finishing strongly in the league.

I absolutely agree that Barkley is far more effective further forward and McCarthy is key to the team balance and provides much needed bite in the middle.