Every Premier League central defender makes mistakes. You name them, they make them.

Rio Ferdinand may have marshalled the Manchester United defence to several clean sheets this season, but the dopey galoot is never far away from the odd lapse in concentration. Chelsea’s John Terry may be a rock at the heart of his team’s defence (when fit), yet the England captain has been left for dust on countless occasions by a speedy opposition forward. Meanwhile, Manchester City skipper Richard Dunne carelessly ceded possession on the edge of his own area against West Ham last Sunday, a blunder that led to a goal.

However, while Dunne was easily forgiven in light of his outstanding performances this campaign, the glare of the media spotlight refused to dim 20 miles down the road at the JJB Stadium, where Wigan’s Titus Bramble had gifted Everton the lead in the earlier kick-off.

'Speak to most Wigan fans and they’ll say he’s been one of the star performers for the Latics this campaign'

Never mind that the Latics defender had scored back-to-back goals for his club over the festive season - the latter a crucial equaliser at Anfield. Once again, the knives were being sharpened for the 26-year-old, who has developed an unfortunate habit of gifting the opposition key goals throughout his career.

It didn’t help that a victory for Steve Bruce’s men against Everton would have lifted them three points clear of the relegation zone, nor that the home team had been the better side before Andy Johnson opened the scoring for the Toffees. Once again, it appeared that Bramble had taken one step forward after his opening-minute howler against Manchester City last month, only to move two back and have his reputation further tarnished by such a crucial error.

So what do we make of the former Ipswich defender, whose performances led to Newcastle splashing £5m back in July 2002? Bramble left Portman Road with many ‘experts’ predicting it was only a matter of time before the youngster was picked to play for England. Did the weight of expectation at St James’ Park cause the centre-half’s career to back-track, or is the player just always going to be prone to lapses of concentration which are likely to be punished if you’re the last line of defence?