Cahill back to his best – Moyes

EVERTON boss David Moyes feels that Tim Cahill’s second headed goal of the week shows the midfielder is fully back in the groove.

Cahill followed up his flicked opener in the 2-0 victory over Sunderland on Wednesday with the late winner at Wigan, crashing home Leighton Baines’ corner as the Toffees triumphed at the DW Stadium.

It was only Cahill’s fourth goal of a Premier League campaign that started slowly for both the player and his club, Everton’s form having been hampered up to December by a demanding European schedule and a lengthy injury list. The Australian looked out of sorts during that period, but over the last two months as the team’s results have improved, so have the performances of their talisman.

Everton are now unbeaten in nine league games with Cahill playing an increasingly prominent role and Moyes is delighted to see the 30-year-old back doing what he does best.

Moyes said: “It’s what he does – trademark Tim Cahill. I think he feels good about it because he knows he’s capable of that and he’s probably not shown it quite as much this year.

“But he’s looking fitter and I think he has played better in the last six weeks or so. He is beginning to feel much more like himself.”

While Everton and Cahill go from strength to strength, it has been a different story for Wigan, who now have only one win in their last eight league games and remain just two points above the relegation zone after yesterday’s result.

Manager Roberto Martinez insisted his team’s performance deserved more but admitted they paid for their profligacy in front of goal.

“It’s a tough blow to take but we need to see through the result,” Martinez said. “I think the performance in many, many aspects was very positive. We created a few clear opportunities one on one with the keeper where we have the talent to do better. But when you don’t score goals, you need to be solid enough to get something out of the game and to concede a corner (for the goal), it was a tough way to finish the game.”

Jason Scotland squandered several good opportunities and is still looking for his first Premier League goal since following Martinez to Wigan from Swansea last summer. Having been prolific over the last two seasons in League One and the Championship Scotland has failed to live up to expectations in the top flight, but Martinez is still backing the Trinidad & Tobago striker to find his feet at the highest level.

“He is a goalscorer and that is in his nature,” Martinez said. “So when he gets into those situations and he’s not himself, we need to make sure we change that feeling. But Jason is a strong character and he has been working really hard. All we need is to turn that corner quickly, and I’m sure the moment that he scores that first Premier League goal he will go into a run.

“It is important that in our play, we help Jason to get into those positions as many times as we can.”

MATCH RATING: ** – Not as bad as the scoreline suggests, and but for Jason Scotland’s crisis of confidence, the home side would have bagged the point their performance deserved. Charles N’Zogbia also hit the crossbar in the last minute.

REFEREE: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 5/10 – A scrappy, intense battle kept Mr Probert busy, though his assistant’s offside call for Fellaini’s ‘goal’ was marginal at best.