Wigan 1 Everton 1: Moyes hits out at Ferguson for red-card shame

David Moyes spent another transfer deadline day conducting a fruitless search for a new striker but by close of business last night the source of his despair was an old one. A punch into the solar plexus of Wigan's Paul Scharner brought Duncan Ferguson the eighth dismissal of his career and a three-match ban that could inflict more damage upon Everton's season now that their manager is resigned to limping towards the finishing line without the goalscorer he has craved since the summer.

Ferguson's famously short fuse blew within seven minutes of his arrival as a 73rd-minute substitute at the JJB Stadium as Everton and Wigan shared the points in an ill-tempered contest and, ultimately, the red cards once Jason Roberts caught David Weir in the face with a stray elbow. Though Paul Jewell disputed the decision of the referee, Mike Dean, against his striker, one that could cost Roberts a place in the Carling Cup final, Moyes had more reason to rue the show of indiscipline.

Having judged Preston's £4m valuation of David Nugent as over-inflated, the Everton manager turned his attentions towards Trabzonspor's Fatih Tekke yesterday, only for a six-month loan deal to be shelved at the 11th hour when the Turkish club failed to recruit a replacement for their leading marksman.

Ferguson and James Beattie, absent last night with a calf strain, now represent the only genuine forwards at Goodison Park and Moyes will be without his 34-year-old for two Premiership games and next week's FA Cup replay at Stamford Bridge after this sending-off.

"I cannot defend Duncan. He has left us all down," said the Everton manager, who surely never expected talk of a self-imposed retirement for Ferguson to arrive in this manner. "Duncan is disappointed with himself and that [the shortage of strikers] is why he has really let us down."

Whether Ferguson will regret his latest violent outburst is open to debate. Roberts, whose offence appeared to lack intent but represented his second dangerous elbow of the game, could be left with a much greater punishment. The Wigan striker would miss the trip to the Millennium Stadium through the final game of his suspension but for the club's intention to rearrange a League game with Tottenham for 18 February.

Jewell, however, insisted: "Yes we can get the game rearranged but what if someone takes his place and scores a hat-trick? No one is good enough to be guaranteed a place here."

The Wigan manager drew more comfort from the point which his side's vast second-half improvement merited. Everton, with Tim Cahill and James McFadden forming a makeshift attack, were superior until first-half stoppage time but only had an own goal from the home debutant David Thompson to show for their impressive display before Scharner volleyed Pascal Chimbonda's header beyond Richard Wright with the final kick of the opening period.

"Everton were better than us in every department and if I was David I'd have been sick at going in at 1-1," admitted Jewell. "But in the second half we showed more commitment and desire. We need that in every game. If people think they can cruise to the cup final then they will find themselves sat in the stands wearing a suit when the rest of the lads walk out in Cardiff."

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): Pollitt; Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines; Teale, Bullard, Scharner, Thompson (Ziegler, 46); Roberts, Mellor. Substitutes not used: Filan (gk), Jackson, Francis, Johansson.

Everton (4-4-2): Wright, Hibbert, Weir, Stubbs, Valente; Osman, Arteta (Ferguson, 73), Neville, Kilbane; Cahill, McFadden. Substitutes not used: Turner (gk), Davies, Naysmith, Anichebe.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

RESULTS AND TABLE, PAGE 63