Everton have taken just 15 days to make a mockery of huge pre-season fear

When the Premier League fixture list was announced Everton’s December was enough to send an icy chill down the spine.

From what had the appearance of decisive away days at Nottingham Forest, Burnley and Wolves to the challenges of Chelsea, Newcastle United, Spurs and Manchester City, there was a lot to fear.

Yet it is now halfway through what had the makings of a tough month and Everton are making a mockery of the fixture list.

Four wins. Four clean sheets. Had the club not been deducted 10 points it would be closing on the European spots.

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The past two seasons have been hellish for Everton supporters. The consecutive relegation battles were draining even if they were eventually won and there were plenty of signs pointing towards another difficult season when the campaign halted for its first international break. The season was five games old, Everton had not won and the transfer window closed with the sales of one of Dyche’s starting XI and the club’s most promising academy starlet. Demarai Gray, though a fringe player by that stage, was still to depart and Everton had only avoided defeat at Sheffield United due to the latest set of Jordan Pickford heroics in stoppage time at Bramall Lane.

Everton’s form was poor and its squad was small. The biggest concern was that a seemingly kind start to the season had been squandered with home defeats to Fulham and Wolves looking costly. One of the reasons December looked increasingly daunting was that Everton had failed to stockpile points at more favourable stages of the season to provide