On Saturday, Everton dropped another two crucial points in the race for fourth place in the Premiership, a race which has been billed as a slugging match between the two halves of Liverpool. The Toffees will do well to hang on to Liverpool’s coattails and if they continue to drop the loose change of "easy" points against struggling teams (three dropped against Fulham last week) or sides muddling through to the end of the season with no targets (two points dropped to West Ham).

A flat Everton side was gifted instant buoyancy by an early Yakubu goal. It came just five minutes after West Ham’s latest young debutant, James Tomkins, hit the upright. Yakubu’s early strike should have lifted David Moyes' men but, in truth, there wasn’t much between the sides with goalkeepers tested at both ends. Special mention should go to Tim Howard’s save from a deflected Dean Ashton free-kick – the American was diving one way but managed to stop the ball with his legs.

What will be most painful to Evertonians is that they didn’t push for a second goal. Possession was very even throughout the game and key passing players like Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman didn’t start as many attacking moves as they would have liked.

'These two points dropped now puts the onus firmly on Everton to try to get a victory from next week's Merseyside derby.'


Injuries were a big problem for Everton with Andy Johnson, Joseph Yobo, James Vaughan and Steven Pienaar all out and Tim Cahill limping off minutes after the curtain was raised. However, any excuses look very ropey when you consider the West Ham team – a half-formed side that has been hit by a tsunami of injuries right from the start of this season.

Later in the game West Ham’s bright young thing Freddie Sears came on and his pace caused seismic problems for Everton’s defence. The 18-year-old went close to winning the game on two occasions - most notably when he beat Howard only for the ball to be betrayed by a kiss from the post.

These two points dropped now puts the onus firmly on Everton to try to get a victory from next week’s Merseyside derby. But if the same Everton as this weekend turn up – a brittle team that doesn’t have the usual gumption – then they could be in real trouble at Anfield.