Everton boss David Moyes: This is my toughest period at Goodison

But more than six years in the Goodison hotseat has made Moyes acutely aware of how quickly fortunes can change at the club.

And the manager admits Everton's current predicament is unparalleled during his time on Merseyside.

The confidence forged by last season's ongoing improvement has evaporated after a summer of frustration and angst in the transfer market, leading to last weekend's opening day defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers that has only added to the gloom that threatens to engulf the Evertonian ranks.

Matters have barely improved in the meantime, with the distinct possibility that only nine senior professionals may be available for today's game against promoted West Bromwich Albion.

And Moyes says: "This is probably the toughest period I have had as Everton manager, mainly because a lot of my concentration at the moment is not with the players I have here - and they are the most important - but with trying to bring new players in.

"There is no doubt that a lot of our energy is being spent on players we want to sign, and that is not helpful for the team.

"You need to do it at the right time and the shutters in the shop are halfway down at the moment with just a week to go.

"The business has changed. There are a lot of people these days with their finger in the pie, it makes things difficult but that is the way things are going these days.

"But I'm not down. I've got to get a team that will compete, challenge and have a go against the top teams.

It was this time last year when most people were saying Everton could be the team that's going to do it. I'm not hearing people saying that this year. So why is that?"

In many ways, it will be blessed relief when the transfer window finally slams shut on Monday week.

Moyes steadfastly refuses to point the finger at the Goodison board for the present malaise, preferring instead to carry the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

But it's clear to see that his frustration centres on others failing to heed his early warnings at the end of the previous campaign before it was too late.

"We knew back on May 14 that we needed to bring players in," says Moyes. "We had 15 professionals and five of those had serious injuries, so we were well aware of the situation.

"I'm the manager and I take full responsibility for that.

"Everybody has known where I have wanted to take the club. Maybe my standards are high, but I want the best for Everton.

"I recognised when we finished fifth what standard of player we needed to get to the next level and the cost it would take to get them in. It's taken me five or six years to get to this situation.

"We had stopped becoming a yo-yo club because in the end we had got roughly 14 or 15 players we think we could work with, and wanted to add another four or five to that number to make sure that we could think about challenging."

Despite the well-documented problems, Moyes is confident Everton remain a draw for prospective targets. "There are very few people who have turned us down, in fact I don't think anyone has," he says.

"Tiago didn't want to come back to England just now, and I accept that. I can guarantee nobody has come back and specifically turned us down."

Although there was controversy surrounding Blackburn's winner last week, Moyes was the first to admit that his patchwork team had not performed to their full potential.

"We want to play much better than last week, that was just not good enough," he says. "Blackburn were better than us, I cannot argue about that. I am now looking for a better performance.

"It is difficult to manage with such small numbers, but we had that problem last season towards the end.

"The positive side is that we have brought in a lot of young players and they have been terrific.

"They have grabbed the opportunity and I am very pleased with them.

"I was not that surprised by what happened last week.

" If people thought it was going to be all singing and dancing with the size of squad we have, then they are mistaken."

Of added danger to Everton is the fact this afternoon will be West Brom's first home game since their promotion back to the Premier League.

And Moyes adds: "West Brom will be difficult, I admire what Tony Mowbray has done there, but I am not surprised. His Hibs teams always played good football, and that is now how Albion play.

"You do not really want to play a newly promoted team on their first home game, but we will have to make it difficult for them and be aware of what to expect."