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Moyes has bemoaned the lack of goals from his forwards all season and concedes bad luck is no longer an excuse for their continuing travails. The Toffees' front men have managed just three goals between them in 17 Premier League games this term - two coming from Jermaine Beckford and the other from Ayegbeni Yakubu. Last season's top scorer Louis Saha has failed to find the net and Moyes has been indebted to the output of midfielder Tim Cahill, who has so far struck eight times. Everton hoped to have turned a corner in their sluggish campaign after claiming a creditable point at Chelsea a fortnight ago but numerous chances were squandered in a frustrating goalless draw with Wigan last week. Moyes said: "You need your luck sometimes but we missed quality chances to win the game and we didn't take them. "If you don't do that you pay the consequences, lucky or not. "Louis Saha was through against Blackpool, Becks was through in one of the other games - that isn't luck, that is bad finishing. "That is more to do with the way the results have been going rather than luck. "We have never got that momentum we talk about. We need to try to find it, we need to try to get ourselves away from the wrong end of the table and start getting closer to the teams at the top. "How do you win if you don't take your chances? "That is football, we have to keep going. We have to keep creating the chances and hopefully convert them." Everton have struggled to break out of the bottom half the table and have failed to win in their last seven games. The tightness of the competition means a strong run could soon change the picture but Moyes admits frustration with the situation and recent performances is growing. He said: "I would rather be eighth than 18th and I would rather be closer to eighth. "That is the job to try to do it. It is always a difficult period Christmas - a couple of wins can change it but a couple of defeats can send you the other way. "With the league being so tight, you expect it to change a lot from week to week. "I can think of half a dozen games we should have won instead of drawn and I can think of another couple we should have won. "I think performances at the start of the season were very good. "At the moment I think they are middle-ish, I wouldn't say they are scintillating. "When you don't win confidence starts to dwindle but we have asked the players to be tough, resolute and go about their job. "The quality dropped off a bit in the game against Wigan but I still thought we did enough to win. "If you win that game 1-0, 2-0, you come away and say you have built on the Chelsea result and you try to get a bit of momentum. "We didn't do so but hopefully it will turn for them." The Merseysiders face a tough test as they travel to title hopefuls Manchester City on Monday. Everton will at least take encouragement from their strong recent record against City having beaten the Eastlands outfit in five of their last six clashes, including three away. Moyes said: "We don't bring up the stats of what we did in the last game or two or three years ago. "You only look at your current form and how you are doing but there are always some grounds you feel comfortable going to. "I am not sure if that is the City of Manchester Stadium but we will go there and try to get a result. "We got a good result there last year and we will try to do it again."
