Shrewd Everton boss David Moyes finds the formula for goals

But if Moyes had to somehow conjure up a winning system on the hoof in the second half of 2008, then his creative powers were tested to the full yet again when he lost virtually an entire strike force to injury.

Now, just for good measure, football's fortune makers have thrown in a season-ending injury to Mikel Arteta, before rewarding a side which had dispatched Liverpool and Aston Villa, with an FA Cup semi-final draw against Manchester United.

Oh well...

It was and is a prospect which has brought rueful looks from some Evertonians, who've sensed journey's end may be about to loom into view.

Well sense again, please.

Because after yesterday's demolition job on a Wigan side fancied for Europe this season, it is time to banish those glass-half-empty doubts and believe Moyes and his men may well find themselves visiting Wembley not once, but twice this year.

How the Blues produced a four-goal show given all that's gone before says as much about the character of the players and the Scot's ability to cope in a crisis, as it does about Wigan's woeful, end of the pier performance.

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Okay, a first 11 drawn from Goodison's gaudy stewards - readily kitted out in their own fluorescent yellow and black replica Wigan strips - might have made a better fist of things than the Latics did at times.

But what was most encouraging of all were signs of a partnership of sorts developing between Jo and Fellaini.

Let's just say the Brazilian, frustratingly cup-tied for the United game, is a mixed bag.

Some of his hold-up play leaves more than a little to be desired, while it's clear he'll need plenty more midweek lessons down at the farm before he really resembles a David Moyes player.

But for all his room for obvious improvement, Jo walked off having added two goals to his tally, and there's no doubt he grew better as the game went on yesterday, particularly after dispatching the opener with aplomb.

With Fellaini up and around him, there are good reasons to believe Everton can conjure up plenty of league goals for what remains of this season.

The young Belgian needs support and patience as he continues to find his feet in English football's demanding top flight. But his presence is now a clear, if at times unorthodox looking threat.

Allied to the sort of razor-sharp technical ability which saw him strike a wonderfully taken second half goal to end any semblance of a contest, he is a growing force and influence in this team.

However, what was most noticeable, even admirable given the difficulties, was the balance the Blues found in their attacking play yesterday.

Either side of the towering front pair are two players who will be crucial to Everton's hopes now.

Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar were the perfect complements to Jo and Fellaini, buzzing around the twin totems and posing an entirely different sort of threat to Wigan.

Osman in particular looked back to his best and let's hope he stays there, because his intelligence in possession, allied to his natural fervour and clever movement, is going to be needed in London on April 19

With Phil Neville calmly orchestrating it all from his deep lying role, and Tim Cahill taking one for the team as he frequently performed the duties of water carrier, rather than goal poacher, came a suspicion that when Everton do walk out at the new Wembley to face Manchester United, they may yet have the system and enough armoury to do the required damage.

There is every reason to believe the Blues can yet mount a serious goal threat to United. Because there's been plenty recently to suggest Vidic, Ferdinand and Evans can be unsettled if teams get on the front foot against them.

After this mauling of Steve Bruce's side, the fans who richly applauded Everton off at the end can now prepare to pack their bags for Wembley with far more confidence than many of them believed possible a week or two ago.

Everton's players must of course take first credit for that. They mastered their own standards when it might have been easy to lower them to Wigan's level. And their spirit remains as undeniable as it is valuable.

But credit too, must go in busloads to Moyes himself. Somehow he has crafted a formula to deliver goals from adversity, at a time when fate has robbed him of so many striking options plus his most creative player.

The hapless Chris Kirkland may have helped, but Everton always looked comfortable winners anyhow and duly notched up their biggest win of the season.

Yet again, it is Moyes who has quietly and without fuss found a way not just to cope, but to beat the odds.

On this evidence it is clearly working.

Luck has indeed been hard on Everton this season. But they say needs must when the devil's driving.

Thanks to their manager's ability to spot opportunity in adversity, Everton might just have found a heaven-sent solution to one hell of a problem.