THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO A&E

LIKE Lee Carsley, Leon Osman has been a player who has generally got it right this season. In style.
The Wigan lad has found consistency and crackling form playing in the five-man midfield alongside the equally skilled and diminutive Pienaar.

Osman is one of those players were the jury has been out so much you begin to wonder if they’ll ever reach a verdict.
One week dismissed for being too small and prone to lapses in concentration, the next a schemer reluctantly worth keeping on the books.
Now finally, finally, Osman has rewarded David Moyes faith by rising to the challenge.
His Lilleshall-honed skills, (Arteta aside he has one of the best first touches I’ve seen at Goodison), have made us sparkle in the Uefa and close in on the Top Four.
And now he’s crocked his toe leaving him out for six weeks.
I was slightly concerned at our relative injury luck this term and suspected it was only a matter of time.
We will really miss Osman, and with Pienaar, Yobbo and Yakubu all away from January we face our toughest test so far.
Undoubtedly, the canny but stylish 4-5-1 has been the making of us. Do we stick with it, and can it be as effective without the missing lads?
Or do we try and go 4-4-2, which would be easier in personnel terms, but risk losing our edge....
Just when we’re on the cusp of vital Carling Cup ties (it’s going to be Liverpool or Chelsea for us isn’t it....) it’s an issue I’m not relishing.
Meanwhile, me and a Mondeo full of Taxi Club boozing blue-bloods are off to Alkmaar at 11pm tonight.
Ticket-less, we’re driving across three countries for a meaningless game after missing make-or-break, history-fuelled ties in Ukraine and Germany.
Wish us luck.

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