First is first and second is nowhere,” Bill Shankly liked to say. What would Shankly have made of a race for fifth? Much the same as David Moyes. Bookmakers, aware of the limited market for four-horse races, now offer odds on which side outside Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, will do best in a given competition. That Everton were second favourites in the “best of the rest” FA Cup betting before their disaster against Oldham yesterday meant nothing to their manager.

Nor would Moyes be satisfied (though he might feel a little proud) if he knew that since he arrived at Goodison Park in March 2002, Everton have accrued more Premier League points than any club outside the Big Four. “I’ve been here nearly six years and I don’t want to pass through this place without being able to touch photographs of our team on the walls, because we’ve not done anything. I want to try and do something,” Moyes said. For him, as for Shankly, “something” means winning. Merely coming close? You might as well be a million miles away from a trophy as “close” if you are not lifting it. “Close” is in the same postcode as nowhere.

Before Christmas Moyes spoke eloquently and persuasively about his belief that his team are inching closer to England’s ruling quartet. Since then, Everton have given spiky, creditable performances against Manchester United and Arsenal, and lost both times. Moyes is unabashed. He still believes oligarchies can be broken. An FA Cup exit against League One opposition may temper outsiders’ belief in Everton’s potential to be revolutionaries, but Moyes rested his six top players against Oldham in readiness for Tuesday’s semi-final with Chelsea in the Carling Cup, the competition where any uprising is most likely to begin happening. “Apart from Middlesbrough (in the 2004 Carling Cup) nobody outside the Big Four has won a cup competition in I don’t know how long. No manager has won it except Steve McClaren. For a lot of reasons we want to do it,” said Moyes.

“From a neutral point of view maybe we should all be cheering on the sides who haven’t won the cup for a while, to try to show that maybe the cups, initially, could be wrestled off the big teams and maybe eventually the league title could be wrestled off the big teams.” The league title? Nobody can doubt his ambition: “We have to try to do it if we can.”

Apart from Middlesbrough’s win, the Big Four have taken away the past 17 major trophies. Neither the Premier League nor FA Cup have been won by a “smaller” club since 1995, but before the Big Four started appropriating the Carling Cup too, Aston Villa (twice), Leicester (twice), Tottenham and Black-burn were winners within an eight-year period. “We were handed a tough draw when we got Chelsea because they take the Carling Cup seriously,” said Moyes, “but it’s a tie where we have to show that maybe at Everton we need to win the cup more than they do.

“We needed the run in Europe we’re having: I needed it, the players needed it. And now the players here need semi-finals and finals of the cups. We’ve been together six years, a lot of us, and it’s about time.” Moyes’s captain would agree. Phil Neville got nine winner’s medals in 10 seasons at Manchester United and has not even been in a final since joining Everton in 2005. The League Cup is the only domestic trophy Neville has not won. “I hope we’re able to help him out,” said Moyes. “Phil’s experience will be vital against Chelsea because he’s been in semi-finals and a lot of us haven’t been there before. We’ll be looking for him to help guide us through, and he’s been doing that since joining the club. He’s brought a mentality in which you can see his football education, his understanding of the game and what it takes to be a winner. I’ve learnt from him.”

Neville is one of two Champions League winners in Moyes’s squad (the other is Nuno Valente). Tim Howard, also once of Manchester United, “has been so good he’s, dare I say it, made me forget about Nigel Martyn”.

Between them, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Thomas Gravesen have Barcelona, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint Germain, Ajax and Celtic and Rangers on their CVs. Adding players with big club experience is one way in which Moyes has expanded the horizons of his team. Another was altering the playing approach. Only Spurs, Manchester United and Arsenal have scored more Premier League goals this season and Everton’s 37 is more than the entire 2005-06 campaign. “With Pienaar, Gravesen and Arteta we thought their experience could help us, particularly in Europe, and in recent signings we’ve tried to add more flair. We still have to be workmanlike but we wanted to add ability and it’s made a difference,” Moyes said.

The final factor behind Everton’s form, he believes, has been the Uefa Cup. Everton emerged from the group stage with a 100% record and have a favoura-ble draw against Brann Bergen. “The games in Europe have helped us. Our away form in the Uefa Cup has been good and we’ve matured because of those trips. The players don’t feel intimidated by any situation,” Moyes said. “The big thing about the Arsenal and Man United games was I felt comfortable as a manager. I didn’t feel we were under a huge amount of pressure in either game and I could trust the players. We don’t go to Chelsea with any fear. We got a result there in the league and are in better form than we were then.”

The Uefa Cup has also helped Tottenham grow – 15 games under Juande Ramos have brought nine wins and just three defeats but one of those was against Arsenal, and Everton are not the only ones with the “it’s about time” feeling. It is so long (20 games) since Tottenham won a north London derby that Ruel Fox was among their players and both legs of last season’s Carling Cup semi-final were typical of the almost farcical near misses Spurs seem fated to endure against their rivals. They were 2-0 up in the first leg, but threw away the advantage in the second half. In the second leg a late goal from Mido took the tie to extra time until it was turned in Arsenal’s favour by Jeremie Aliadiere scoring his first home goal in four seasons.

Spurs will draw hope from the fact Arsenal will miss the huge influence of Kolo Toure because of the African Cup of Nations, though they will be without Didier Zokora. Chelsea will also be depleted by the absences of Didier Drogba and Michael Ess-ien, though it appears Nigeria may allow players to join up with the squad after the midweek ties. This would mean Jon Obi Mikel being available to Chelsea and Yakubu and Joseph Yobo to Everton. Moyes is negotiating with South Africa for Pienaar to be granted similar dispensation.