From Down Under to thriving at the top

There was an air of, if not disbelief, then at least quiet surprise around Goodison Park after Sunday's win over Middlesbrough lifted Everton into the Premiership's top three.

Speaking to the media after the match, manager David Moyes gave a fair impression of a rabbit caught in headlights. The questions about what happens to an Everton shorn of Wayne Rooney have now stopped. Instead, the grilling is all about what Everton are doing at the right end of the table.

Relegation battle? No. A challenge for European places? Come back in May, but for now this Everton side are a sweet example of application and team work outweighing the influence of individuals.

This has been apparent to Tim Cahill, who arrived at Goodison from Millwall in August just as Rooney was looking for the exit. Rather than operate as a home to the stars, Everton, Cahill suggests, now wield an us-against-them spirit similar to that which flowed through Millwall.

"Last week's win against Middlesbrough was a great result and I'm just really, really happy for the lads and for the club," he said. "I wouldn't have signed here if I didn't think this was a massive club capable of going places, but we must keep improving. All the ingredients are there.

"All the lads here are down to earth and they made it easy for me to settle in, but the difference in standard between here and Millwall is massive. Here the players are strong, physically and mentally. They're great footballers with that extra edge.

"Everything you do in the Premiership is under a microscope. You need to do well all the time. There's a lot of pressure on players coming into a league like this."

For Cahill, pressure is a good thing. Not that motivation is missing for the 24-year-old. He has played only two Premiership matches for Everton, first because of his commitments at the Olympic Games with Australia and second because he was suspended for the Middlesbrough match for what is now known at Goodison Park as "the situation": he made headlines around the world when he was sent off for pulling up his shirt, celebrating a match-winning first goal for his new club against Manchester City a fortnight ago.

He has a track record for exuberance. After scoring Millwall's opener against Sunderland in last season's FA Cup semi-final, the midfielder ran the length of Old Trafford waving his shirt above his head to seek out family and friends who had travelled from Australia for the game.

"I might get into controversy but it can't be helped," said Cahill. "I just show my emotions as a footballer. Especially scoring goals. The first one for Everton meant a lot to me. I don't regret it. It's just something that I've always done when I've celebrated. Everyone was bemused by it and it was nice of Sepp Blatter to come out and back me as well. That meant a lot."

Cahill's explosive highs perhaps have roots in the long path he took to the Premiership. Like several Australians before him, he left Sydney as a teenager and arrived raw at Millwall to develop into a midfield centrepiece for last season's overachievers.

He made his debut for Australia last March, as a substitute against South Africa in a London friendly, after a 10-year exile from international football. A substitute appearance for Western Samoa, his mother's birthplace, as a 14-year-old visiting his grandmother had seemingly ended his Socceroo career before it began.

The Samoans were prepared to give up Cahill to Australia, but FIFA were immovable until new regulations were introduced at the beginning of this year, inspired by Cahill's campaign. He now appears likely to become a crucial cog in Frank Farina's midfield.

"I'm definitely an emotional player," he said. "Not just if I score a goal. I'm just really passionate and just want to do really well and work as hard as I can. Being in the Premiership I now have to take every opportunity and be thankful for the position I'm in.

"I do believe in giving 100 per cent every time. I don't see the point in going out there and being half-hearted. You'd never forgive yourself."