There was no ghost of Christmas past haunting Everton when Sean Dyche returned to the Blues’ new home as the action on the pitch displayed a sharp contrast now that David Moyes has been back at the helm for almost a year.

Alan Stubbs, Everton’s captain when Moyes steered them to fourth in 2004/05, which is still the club’s highest Premier League position, admitted that he feared the Nottingham Forest fixture represented “a real potential banana skin” for the Blues.

Meanwhile, even the Everton manager felt during the 90 minutes itself that in many respects his side weren’t quite firing on all cylinders like they had been in recent weeks.

It was only when Moyes watched the game back this week – as part of his usual, meticulous attention to detail – that he was able to appreciate ful

See Full Page