Following an exhilarating and somewhat gut wrenching last 25 minutes of the120 played in the eventual victory against West Bromwich Albion last Wednesday, Everton's hopes of taking a buoyed squad and fan base down the M62 to Manchester City at the weekend were greatly enhanced.

It's amazing what can happen over a couple of weeks in Football, it truly is a funny old game. Rewind back to the start of September, there was a dark grey cloud lurking around Goodison Park and a storm of uncertainty was brewing. Our main play maker had just departed, along with him we lost two strikers and most of our press coverage centred around the goings on everywhere except the field of play.

Followers on Twitter and contributors to forums may remember my concerns about Mikel Arteta's future at Everton a couple of weeks earlier, after Cesc Fabregas' prolonged yet inevitable departure from the Emirates to Camp Nou. Often described as a Wenger type player my only doubt about the Frenchman's pursuit of Everton's most creative player was that maybe his age may be of a concern, as it would mean breaking a tried tested recruitment policy spanning 16 years.