For weeks, the run of fixtures on either side of the international break have appeared a daunting task for Everton.
Away trips to Chelsea and Manchester United punctuated by a Goodison Park battle with Champions League-chasing Tottenham Hotspur suggested that, for all the progress made under Sean Dyche, the Premier League table might start to look worse before it then got better.
Yet a hard-earned point at Stamford Bridge clinched through Ellis Simms’ feel-good goal, on a weekend in which Spurs and another April opponent, Fulham, went into meltdown, mean Everton have good reason to view the coming weeks with optimism rather than fear.
