A difficult time but team must all pull together; BLUE WATCH MARK O'BRIEN - LOOKS FOR EURO RELIEF.

Byline: MARK O'BRIEN

LAST month, the decent results against the hapless Sigma Olomouc acted as a salve, easing the pain of the raw results inflicted by both Arsenal and Burnley.

So following another dreadful domestic performance, this time at Craven Cottage, Evertonians are hoping that Europe can once again provide some light relief in what's been a rather grim week.

AEK Athens promise to be more formidable than the men from the Czech Republic, and given Everton's present problems the Greeks must be quietly confident of emulating their countrymen, Panathinaikos, who infamously upset Harry Catterick's team by dumping them out of the European Cup in 1971.

The news towards the end of last week that Mikel Arteta's recovery has hit problems was a disappointment, and Phil Neville picking up a serious injury against Fulham only compounded matters further.

All of a sudden, from looking like he had a number of interesting options after making three new signings, David Moyes is once again struggling to piece a coherent side together.

Right-back is a problem for tonight, thanks to the ineligibility of Johnny Heitinga and Tony Hibbert's suspension, while the whole midfield still seems a complete mess.

The decision to replace the stricken Neville with Heitinga on Sunday rekindled memories of a horrible night at in February 2007 when many at Goodison saw Moyes's decision to bring on Gary Naysmith instead of James Vaughan as overlycautious, paving the way for a late Tottenham winner.

Clearly the Everton manager didn't think Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was ready to be pitched into a Premier League game in which his side were being overrun - perhaps he will deem a slower paced Europa League encounter as more suitable for the pounds 10m midfielder's first start.

If the Cottagers are a bit too rough and tumble for the Russian though, what chance has he got of facing Blackburn on Sunday, given that Sam Allardyce's teams traditionally do more kicking than a chorus line? Matters aren't helped by the fact that Moyes continues to wrestle with exactly what to do with Marouane Fellaini, a year after breaking the club's transfer record for him.

If the huge Belgian is to repay the faith that the club have put in him, then now, with Yakubu on his way back and the midfield decimated, would be a fantastic time to show that he can be more than just a big-haired Peter Crouch figure or, heaven forbid, an 'impact substitute'.

In fact it's time for the whole team to pull together, deal with the problems of the missing personnel and start winning games before the season runs away from us altogether.

CAPTION(S):

Phil Neville's injury at Fulham adds to the lengthy casualty list at Everton