Nottingham Forest 0-1 Everton: McNeil takes Everton off bottom spot with strike

Talk of anything sub-zero is enough to put Everton on edge. Minus 10 already and even Sean Dyche opted for a light jacket on a day when the icy mists really did roll over the River Trent.

But they are warming to the challenge, collecting their first points since the punishment for breaking financial rules. In doing so, they hauled Nottingham Forest a little closer into peril and nudged Steve Cooper a little closer to the exit.

Dwight McNeil scored the only goal, a wonderfully sweet half-volley midway through the second half, and Everton were worth the win, having created and squandered two glorious chances in the first half.

Forest did not manage a shot on target until they were behind and when they did rally late in the game found Dyche’s team primed to resist. Central defenders James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite were strong, James Garner excelled in midfield and Jordan Pickford was alert to danger when it finally came his way.

They returned to Merseyside nursing the warm glow of three points. Everton have not lost at the City Ground since September 1995 when Dyche’s assistant Ian Woan scored Forest’s decisive third in a 3-2 win.

Problems mount, however, for Cooper, under pressure and now on a miserable run of one win in 10 games and devoid of a goal threat without injured centre forward Taiwo Awoniyi.

There was a scrappy opening phase littered with stoppages and off-field distractions. Everton fans held up their pink protest cards in the 10th minute and found sympathy in short supply among supporters of the home team.

Forest came into the fixture with mood music from the boardroom to suggest popular boss Cooper was safe but not that safe. And presumably even less safe after this.

The cycle of uncertainty appears central