Moyes plays down European hopes

Everton boss David Moyes accepts there is little chance of the Toffees making Europe this season despite another win at Wigan on Saturday.

Everton extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to nine matches with a 1-0 win at the DW Stadium thanks to Tim Cahill's header six minutes from time.

It continues the Toffees' impressive return to form since their 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby in November, a result which left an injury-blighted Toffees side 16th in the table after a poor start to the campaign.

Now sat in ninth position, Everton's latest three points - their third league win in a row - has brought renewed hope for their fans of a push for a Europa League spot. But Moyes is not getting carried away and believes the team's early-season difficulties may still prevent them from finishing high enough.

"We'll wait and see where it goes, but who knows?" Moyes said. "We hoped we would have been in and around it before the season started, but the start we had to the season probably makes it a real long shot.

"We can't be aiming too high too soon. "We'll wait and see how we go over the coming months and we have a tough month to come."

Everton emerged triumphant from a lively encounter which saw both teams denied penalty claims by referee Lee Probert. Wigan boss Roberto Martinez felt particularly aggrieved after Probert ruled that John Heitinga's second-half foul on Charles N'Zogbia occurred on the edge of the box, but not inside it.

"The incident with Charles N'Zogbia and John Heitinga - if it's a free-kick, he's definitely in the box, so it should have been a penalty," Martinez said. "There is clearly contact and it was clear for the linesman that there was an infraction. It was very clear on the replay that the contact happens on the line and develops in the box."

Moyes admitted he had initially been unsure about the incident, but was keen to emphasise the times at which he felt his side had been equally hard done by, including two perceived infringements by Latics defender Gary Caldwell and a late Marouane Fellaini effort which was flagged offside minutes before Cahill's winner.

"I saw (Heitinga's tackle) as nowhere near as bad as the challenge by Gary Caldwell on Louis Saha for the penalty kick that wasn't given," Moyes said. "When I first saw it I thought it might have been in (the box). But after seeing it again, I think he (Probert) has got it right.

"What I can tell you is - was Gary Caldwell's pull in the first minute a sending-off? Stonewall. Was Louis Saha's a penalty kick? Stonewall.

"Was it a goal that Fellaini scores? Stonewall, because Cahill cuts it back from the byline.

"So we've had a real difficult afternoon with the officials."