The Beatles were about to give their final studio performance the previous time Everton took such an imposing away record into the new year. The “Fab Four” record together for the final time in January 1970, but in 2009 it is the top four that should beware a club with seven Premier League victories on the road this season.

Everton went on the win the first division championship on the back of their away form almost 30 years ago, but there will be no title this season, such is their dismal record at home. It is an anomaly that needs addressing but a problem which by no means fazes David Moyes, the club’s manager.

“Winning away is a habit I’m hopeful we’ll keep,” he said. “It’s a good habit as well. It’s our home form that’s letting us down at times but it’s taken us a while to settle down this season and the injuries haven’t helped. Over the years the Goodison Park crowd has been terrific to us and it’s always helped us get results. We’ll get results there again. If we can get a few of our forwards fit again, then we can be a real force.”

Everton’s record away from home this season may be perverse but it has them hanging on to the coat-tails of the Premier League’s top five clubs. Only Chelsea have claimed more victories on their travels, but contrast that impressive statistic with the fact that Everton have won only one of their nine league matches at Goodison Park this season and it is clear where their problems lie.

Without Yakubu Ayegbeni, the injured forward, for the remainder of the season, Moyes has every reason to employ a lone attacker away from home and Everton’s five-man midfield made all the early running against an utterly abject Middlesbrough team.

However, such a defensive tactic is surely unsustainable at home and it is of paramount importance that Tim Cahill, the Australia forward, is supplemented by additions to a threadbare attack next month.

“We’ve got no strikers and we’ve got Tim and [Marouane] Fellaini working together, sometimes in midfield and sometimes up front,” Moyes said. “The two of them caused problems for Middlesbrough all game. On another day we would have scored more goals but it’s no secret that I’m looking to strengthen the squad through loan deals if I can next month. We could do with another couple of new bodies.”

Middlesbrough’s problem is not so much a lack of goalscoring strength in depth but, rather, a paucity of midfield creativity. The club’s manager, Gareth Southgate, was able to leave Afonso Alves, the £12 million forward, on the bench, such are the attacking options available. However, the recalled Mido barely touched the ball before the break as his colleagues failed to exert any meaningful pressure on a diligent Everton defence.

The visiting team always looked the more likely to score first and Moyes must have been disappointed to see a succession of set-piece opportunities wasted. Steven Pienaar, the midfield player, had a tenth-minute goal disallowed and was denied again, by a post, midway through the first half.

The inevitable happened within five minutes of the restart when Everton broke the deadlock from a corner. Mikel Arteta got his delivery right to find Cahill rising above the Middlesbrough defence and heading powerfully towards goal. Ross Turnbull, the goalkeeper, saved at point-blank range, Julio Arca blocked Cahill’s follow-up, but the former Millwall player made no mistake at the third attempt.

Daniel Gosling, making his first appearance for Everton after a £2 million transfer from Plymouth Argyle 11 months ago, had two opportunities to extend his team’s lead but a wild shot cleared Turnbull’s crossbar and the Middlesbrough goalkeeper saved bravely to deny the midfield player 14 minutes from time.

“There’s no way I’m ducking the challenge,” said Southgate after his side slipped into the bottom four, escaping the relegation zone only by goal difference. “Everton came here with no strikers but they’ve got that mentality where they dig in and get over their problems. That’s the attitude we need if we’re going to get out of this situation.”

Middlesbrough 4-4-2: R Turnbull 6 A McMahon 5 C Riggott 5 E Pogatetz 4 A Taylor 6 J Aliadière 4 G O’Neil 4 J Arca 5 S Downing5 Mido 5 Tuncay Sanli 4 Substitutes A Alves 4 (for Tuncay, 55min), A Johnson 4 (for Aliadière, 70), M Emnes (for O’Neil, 85). Not used B Jones, R Huth, D Wheater, J Walker.

Everton 4-4-1-1: T Howard 7 T Hibbert7 J Lescott 7 P Jagielka 9 L Baines 7 D Gosling 7 P Neville 6 M Arteta 6 S Pienaar 7 M Fellaini 8 T Cahill 8 Substitutes not used C Nash, A van der Meyde, J Rodwell, L Jutkiewicz, V Anichebe, J P Kissock, J Wallace.

Att: 30,253
Referee: M Riley.

Star man: Phil Jagielka
The Everton defender endured a difficult afternoon when the teams met last month but he was imperious at the Riverside. The centre back remains one of David Moyes’s most astute signings.

Window watch
Gareth Southgate always requires reinforcements at Middlesbrough but next month is all about keeping hold of the quality he already possesses. It is impossible to imagine the first-team squad shorn of Stewart Downing and Tuncay Sanli. David Moyes’s team are better than their league position suggests. However, without Yakubu Ayegbeni until next season there is a clear need for goalscoring reinforcements in 2009.