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| Tim Howard believes there is more to come from Everton after disappointing 1-1 draw at Norwich |
TIM HOWARD is convinced Everton do not need to panic over their inability to turn dominant performances into wins.
The Toffees ended up drawing a game that they could so easily have wrapped up by half-time. Indeed, Norwich should have gone on to win it but Cameron Jerome blasted over from eight yards with the goal at his mercy.
Romelu Lukaku scored for the sixth successive Premier League fixture and emulated Bob Latchford's run of seven scoring games for the club in all competitions 40 years ago.
But the Belgian was also guilty of squandering three other clear chances in a first half that saw Aroune Kone twice fail to beat Norwich goalkeeper Declan Rudd when clean through and Leighton Baines hit the bar.
And when Wes Hoolahan equalised a little over a minute into the second half Roberto Martinez's men were left to regret such wastfulness.
"We should be further up the league, but it's not a concern because I've played in teams where you're wondering where it's going to come from - not with this team," said goalkeeper Howard, who has been wearing the gloves for the Toffees since 2006.
"We know we can dominate games and get into winning positions. It's the small margins. I've been there in the past where you've no idea where it's going to come from - it's not the case with this team."
Lukaku's goal was his 15th of the season and came from a cross to the back post by the impressive Gerard Deulofeu in the 15th minute. More than 2,600 travelling fans, all wearing blue and white Santa hats, celebrated wildly but few were surprised when their favourites conceded from a set-piece.
Ryan Bennett, on at the break for Andre Wisdom, headed Robbie Brady's corner goalwards and although Ross Barkley was able to block on the line, Hoolahan was on hand to stab home the loose ball.
Manager Roberto Martinez had seen Crystal Palace score from a corner a week ago and admitted it was a concern.
"We need to develop that nasty streak you have to have in your box," he said. "Sometimes we're still thinking about scoring the next goal, being creative and being on the ball which is going to make us a winning team.
"During a game you need to do certain jobs and in certain moments you have to be ruthless in order to keep a clean sheet."
Norwich don't keep clean sheets either - they have managed just one in league action all season. But captain Russell Martin was convinced that was not as significant a statistic as it might seem.
"We kept three in the first season under Paul Lambert and stayed up," he said. "We kept 12 in the season we got relegated.
"Obviously you'd want a few more and as a defender you want to keep clean sheets. But the way we've been asked to play - expansive, trying to attack teams - it's tough. You have to find a balance.
"We should have had a few more clean sheets. The first 10 games, we could have had five easily. It was set-pieces and little sloppy goals that were stopping us getting them. We'll get a few more between now and the end of the season - it's not a massive worry."
NORWICH (4-2-3-1): Rudd 8; Wisdom 5 (R Bennett 46, 7), Martin 5, Bassong 5, Olsson 5; O'Neil 6, Tettey 6; Redmond 6, Hoolahan 7 (Howson 84), Brady 7; Jerome 4. Booked: Martin. Goal: Hoolahan 47. NEXT UP: Man Utd (a) PL, Sat.
EVERTON (4-2-3-1): Howard 6; Coleman 7, Stones 7, Funes Mori 7, Baines 7; Barry 7, Cleverley 7; Deulofeu 8 (Mirallas 69, 6), Barkley 7 (Gibson 76, 6), Kone 6; Lukaku 7. Goal: Lukaku 15. NEXT UP: Leicester (h), PL, Sat.
Referee: Martin Atkinson.
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