“I'm really pleased. It's not easy beating these sides at the moment – the likes of Wolves and Blackburn. To be fair to the boys they went about their jobs very well." DAVID MOYES was satisfied with the routine result.

"I don't think it was a worrying performance. The overall performance was of two totally different halves. We were by far the better in the first and they were the better in the second." Rovers boss STEVE KEAN was definitely in the dug-out at Goodison but possibly watching a different game.

SOME fans in the away end were dressed like Fathers for Justice protesters, but the only campaign the home supporters should get behind is for the season to start in January.

If prizes were given out for form since the New Year Everton would currently be poised for greater things than a drawn-out bun fight over sixth place with Liverpool.

The Toffees have picked up 25 points since the start of 2011, and losing is becoming a distant memory.

For the second time in as many seasons, David Moyes’ men seem set for title contention type of form based on their run-in, but the nagging feeling is that – as welcome as their unbeaten in seven spell is – it’s too little, too late.

If the Everton manager can somehow halt his side’s tendency to start their Premier League campaigns slower than a clapped-out Robin Reliant, tangible achievement could be more than a pipe-dream next term.

Consider Saturday’s routine victory. In August Everton went to Ewood Park and lost to Blackburn Rovers, and shortly after they struggled to a draw against Wolves.

Yet in two weeks both sides have been dispatched with ease, as the Blues proved they have solved the quandary of dour opponents who set-up for a draw.

Blackburn were awful, but with ten men behind the ball and ambitions limited to stopping Everton there was a threat they could become the proverbial parked bus that has frustrated at Goodison so often this season.

Thankfully Leon Osman is in a rich vein of form that would lead to most players being touted for England contention.

While younger men like Wolves’ Matt Jarvis are more in fashion, Osman is quietly going about suggesting that he should remain a fixture in this Everton team even when everyone is fully fit.

Effervescent in the Black Country last weekend, the veteran Blue-blood was the difference once again as this contest threatened never to rise above a mind-numbingly mediocre first half.

Osman scored his third goal in the last six matches to set Everton on course for a comfortable victory over dismal Blackburn.

Typically it was him who registered the lame first half’s only shot on target, a fizzer which Paul Robinson held comfortably.

But Everton showed renewed vigour after the break. Magaye Gueye again impressed with some sharp turns, and launched one vicious effort narrowly over. Then Leighton Baines hit a low pile driver just wide from 30 yards.

And the deadlock was broken when Osman collected a short corner and ghosted easily past former Barcelona youth player Ruben Rochina, before unleashing a swerving strike that was helped past Robinson by Christopher Samba’s outstretched boot.

David Moyes may be right when he says the ship has probably sailed regarding international football for the little midfielder, but his displays will at least provide serious food for thought about how to keep him involved in the first team when Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini return.

"Ossie was the pick of the bunch for me," said his manager afterwards. "There was a lot of good all-round play and good performances but I thought Ossie was above that.”

The 29-year-old's challenge now must be to take the game to Manchester United, City and Chelsea in the same way he has overseen the demise of lesser teams.

The game's tempo lapsed again after Everton’s lead, despite Seamus Coleman doing his best to enliven things when he replaced Gueye.

But Rovers sealed their own fate with a quarter of an hour left. Phil Jones scythed down Coleman in the area, and Leighton Baines coolly dispatched the resulting spot kick to ensure the points and suggest the result of Everton’s Player of the Season award is academic.

The visitors could have had a lifeline minutes after when Baines and Jagielka got themselves horribly mixed-up over a routine clearance, but Morten Gamst Pedersen lashed his shot wide.

So often a tormentor of the Blues, even Pedersen’s cameo from the bench was unlikely to rouse his team from their clueless approach.

It had been a mixed afternoon for Jermaine Beckford, who was replaced towards the end by Apsotolos Vellios. Scolded publicly by Moyes last weekend for allowing his work-rate to drop, he ran endlessly this time around and seemed eager to atone.

But the former Leeds man snatched at a clear-cut chance in the first half, a habit he persists with despite impressing with his movement in the box, and blasted over.

He continues to find himself in the right places though, and his pace remains a useful way to unlock stubborn back lines.

Like his team-mates though, Beckford faces a far more difficult task at Old Trafford next where Everton’s recent resilience will undergo its toughest test against a wounded animal smarting from losing out on a potential treble.

If the Blues can bring three points back from Alex Ferguson’s lair for the first time since 1992, it will provide some genuine delight amid this season’s bitter-sweet swan song .

EVERTON (4-4-1-1): Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Jagielka, Baines, Neville (capt), Heitinga (Rodwell, 16), Bilyaletdinov, Gueye (Coleman, 65), Osman, Beckford (Vellios, 85). Not used: Mucha, Anichebe, Mustafi, Forshaw.

BLACKBURN (4-4-1-1): Robinson, Salgado, Givet (Pedersen, 68), Samba (capt), Olsson, Emerton, Dunn, P Jones, J Jones, Rochina, Santa Cruz (Roberts, 62). Not used: Bunn, Kalinic, Benjani, Hanley, Diouf.

GOALS: Osman (54), Baines (pen 75).

CARDS: Booked – Baines, Rodwell, Rochina, P Jones, Dunn

REFEREE: Kevin Friend. (address).

ATTENDANCE: 35,857.