Back-to-back home draws with Stoke City and Wolves have brought Everton back down to earth after a good run, and left us praying for the return of Pienaar and Arteta.

These are games you would expect Everton to win if we're going to finish in the top 5 again, but the truth is we didn't create enough to changes to win and badly missed somebody who can open up stubborn teams like these who come to Goodison to keep things tight.

In seasons gone by, Mikel Arteta would tear them to pieces and make the difference. More recently, Steven Pienaar has done the same. But without these two we were exposed a bit against Wolves and Stoke and just weren't creative enough.

The decision to play Heitinga at center midfield against Wolves probably didn't help. For all his faults, Fellaini always wants the ball and uses it well, normally finding a blue shirt and helping us keep possession and build attacks. Heitinga - who impressed me at center half the week before - did not do this and the whole thing brought flashbacks of Phil Jagielka playing in midfield when he first joined the blues.

That didn't work and he eventually became an excellent center half for us. The same looks true of Heitinga and playing him and Rodwell in midfield together left us short of ideas. Infact, we really shouldn't be playing 4-5-1 - with two defensive center midfielders - at home to the likes of Wolves.

As for the goal.. where do we start. Mistake from Yobo in missing the header, Distin was static and Tim Howard - clearly thinking he was going to be lobbed by Kevin Doyle - jumped out like a star fish and was made to look a complete mug as the ball rolled under him.

One positive from the game was the performance of Bilyetdinov though, who continues to look like our most creative prospect at the moment. His crosses and passing are excellent, the only gripe at the moment is that he doesn't go past a man as much as a winger might do, and Moyes admitted he isn't sure whether to play him left, right or behind the striker. But he was certainly our best player against Wolves and has impressed enough so far.

And he rescued a point at the end, turning home a low cross from Jo in front of the Gwladys Street.

Not brilliant and things could have been worse for Everton when Tim Howard was lucky to stay on the pitch after a later altercation.

The blues now have some tough fixtures coming up, starting with Benfica away on Thursday. Hopefully Pienaar will be back for that one but the biggest decisions Moyes has is who to play in center midfield. This time it might actually suit the occasion to play 4-5-1 with Rodwell and Heitinga but Fellaini must be in with a chance of starting.

That's followed up by a trip to Bolton Wanderers on Sunday as the blues embark on a hectic period that could make or break the season.

We need to be lucky and not get any more injuries because once Moyes can choose from a midfield of Arteta, Pienaar, Rodwell, Cahill, Fellaini, Bilyetdinov.. Everton should be taking teams apart on a regular basis. Until then, we need to grind out the results.