Tim Howard: Forget Wigan Athletic worries
TIM HOWARD has warned Everton they cannot afford to dwell on their woeful performance at Wigan Athletic.
David Moyes's side surrendered a five-game unbeaten record in dismal fashion as they slumped to a first-ever defeat at the JJB Stadium on Monday night.
Howard admitted Everton did not do themselves justice on the evening and could have no complaints at the final outcome.
Sunday's trip to a revitalised Tottenham Hotspur is the start of a difficult set of fixtures for the Goodison outfit, who must also face Aston Villa, Manchester City and Chelsea before Christmas.
And Howard believes Everton must bounce back immediately from Monday's reverse or risk slipping down a congested Premier League table.
"It didn't happen for us," said the United States international. "We didn't really stand up the way I think we should. We wanted to get this game to keep our run going.
"This league doesn't wait though so we just have to pick ourselves up, go down to Tottenham, get ourselves together and give it a good go."
Everton's margin of defeat could have been greater were it not for a string of fine saves from Howard, the goalkeeper producing one remarkable stop to repel Paul Scharner's header from point-blank range.
Howard, though, was characteris-tically modest about the save. "Sometimes you get a little bit lucky but saves like that are what I'm there to do," he said.
"I was able to do that on Monday. The defeat hurts more because I've played worse and kept a clean sheet and we've gone on to win games.
"We were a little bit lucky to come in 0-0. Then we ran out of ideas in the second half, which is disappointing for us because we've got a lot of creativity, a lot of ideas and we want to go forward."
Meanwhile, James Vaughan is in Colorado for surgery on the knee problem that will sideline him until the New Year.
The 20-year-old has cartilage damage and will once again be operated on by world-renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman, who performed surgery on Vaughan's left knee earlier this year.
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