Well definetely a case of after the Lords Mayor Parade, as Everton went out of their third Cup Competition, and it is not even November. Moyesy shuffled the troops, and as expected rested Tiny and Dunc. Nuno was an enforced change, but the curse of the left back struck again when Matteo Ferrari fell under the spell, and hobbled off minutes before the half.

Everton were the better team in the first period, but fell to the sucker punch of a goal on the counter. Biffa may need to have a look at the part he played in Jimmy Floyd's goal, as he lost possession not once but twice in a matter of seconds, as the Boro defence found taking the ball of him as easy as taking sweets off a kid. We lost the ball, they scored, football can be a simple game, but alas not for us.

Everton pressed, and everything was orchestrated by Mkky Arteta. He oozed confidence and skill on the ball, and his frustration was clear for all to see, when players around him were not even doing the simplest of tasks.

To be fair to Everton played well at times, but as ever there was no one on the end of the final ball. The Boro defence were put under pressure for long spells of the half, but for Premiership players, pressure they could easily handle.

H-T 0-1

Moyesy had to make changes, and the crowd were hoping to see Andy Van der Meyde come out for the second half. It was not to be, and we had to wait till half an hour to go till the Dutch winger entered the fray. He looks like a typical old fashioned winger, staying tight to the by line, waiting for the ball. He flashed some lovely crosses in, but once again no one was there to put the finishing touches too.

Everton's best chance came when my Bluekipper Starman, Mikky Arteta watched his free kick cannon off the cross bar, to in a way some up Everton's night, frustrating. Biffa went close, and he did get stronger as the game went on. His header flew over the cross bar, and Everton once again were on their way out of a Tournament they never look like winning.

My night was summed up by a wag who sat by me with a few of his kids, who were making their Goodison debuts, making use of the correct ticketing policy, plus the half term break. He ranted would the Everton hierarchy pay for his kids counseling, now that he had brought them to Goodison. It's the Blues it get's us like that.

Anyhow another home game, another crescendo of boo's at the end, bottom of the Prem, out of three Competitions, as the song goes,' the only way is up', but lets hope it is pretty damn quick.

Moyesy says: "We were disappointed we didn't make more of the crosses we got into the box. We got a lot of balls into and around the box and we were hoping for somebody to get on the end of one but credit to Middlesbrough for defending very well. They have become a good cup side in the UEFA Cup and Carling Cup over the last year or two. It was a hard game and their experience of playing away from home recently did well for them in the second half.

I thought they had the better chances in the first half and we had more possession. We didn't make enough of that. We are disappointed not to go through and disappointed not to get a better result on the night. But we have to move on.

When he came on Andy gave us what we have been seeing regularly in training. But we know we are having to build up his fitness and that is going to take games. That was his first and he has only had one 60 minutes in the reserves. That first run out at Goodison will help him and hopefully he will help us in the future." (27/10/05)

* Not clever, and he will probably get a thick ear of his dad, but the eight year old who probably put the best tackle in on the night, when he ran on from the Street End, and had a pop at a Boro player.

After Sundays decent home result against Chelski, Everton goes into tonight’s game against Boro without a few key individuals. Definitely out is Portuguese defender Nuno Valente, who left the fray at half time with hamstring trouble. Big Dunc is sure too be rested for Saturdays game at Brum. Tiny too will have a night off, as he looked out of sorts on Sunday and he desperately needs to put his feet up for a week or two.

Matteo Ferrari should carry on in place of Nuno, and we may see PK for the first time, if not starting, definitely on the bench. Andy Pandy will hopefully get a last twenty-minute run out, as Moyesy gives a good indication that he will be involved at some point.

The Carling Cup, Littlewoods Cup, Coca Cola Cup, Milk Cup, Worthington Cup, or whatever you want to call it, has still avoided Everton in our distinguished history. As well as a path into Europe, it will also give us a great day out in Cardiff, so hopefully this season we can have a decent run in it.

Moyesy says: "The draw against Chelsea has given everyone a big lift. It was only a point but against a team like Chelsea who are the best in Europe at the moment, it gave us the feeling of 'that's more like it'. We can't say after one result that everything is hunky-dory, but we needed a start, something to build on, and hopefully that is what we can now do." (26/10/05)

Everton from: Martyn, Hibbert, Yobo, Weir, Ferrari, Osman, Cahill, Neville, Arteta, McFadden, Bent, Ferguson, Davies, Kilbane, Wright, Van Der Meyde, Kroldrup, Beattie

Lavo's Everton XI To Start: Martyn, Hibbert, Kroldrup, Yobo, Ferrari, Neville, Davies, Arteta, Mc Fadden, Bent, Beattie

Lavo’s Best Bet: £10 on Robbie Williams To Be No.1 at Xmas (6/1)

2004 Winners Boro, go into tonight’s match without influential Captain Gareth Southgate. The defender has picked up a groin injury in Sundays controversial defeat to West Ham at Upton Park. On the plus side Ugo Ehiogu returns after proving his fitness for Boro’s rezzies last week.
It is a Cup Boro have tasted success in recently, so expect Manager Steve Mc Laren to start with his big guns, as he goes all out to move on to the next round.

McLaren says: We've lost only two games in the last eight, but we've not yet achieved the consistency we want. We have struggled to find the right shape for the team since Stewart Downing was hurt. Everything has not yet fallen into shape, and the game at Everton gives us another chance to get it right." (26/10/05)