Moyes: Selling Faddy a mistake April 14 2008
Everton manager David Moyes has conceded he may have acted too hastily in letting go of James McFadden.
The Scotland international moved to Birmingham in a £5million deal during the January transfer window due to a lack of first-team football at Goodison Park.
The Toffees have since seen their bid for UEFA Champions League qualification falter in recent weeks following a number of injuries to key players.
Saturday's 1-1 draw with Blues means the Merseysiders have only taken five points from their last five games as fourth-placed Liverpool opened up a five-point gap on their city rivals.
And Moyes, who was without Tim Cahill, Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman at St Andrews, admits he could really have used McFadden at a time when injuries have taken their toll on his squad.
"You can have as many players as you like but you always need your best players in the team and we are missing too many of them at the moment," Moyes lamented.
"If we had known, we probably wouldn't have let James McFadden go in January. He is a good player. He was a good player at Everton. He will do well for Birmingham.
"It's four points from the last two games but I think it's obvious we are not firing on all cylinders and are missing players who are important to us.
"We're struggling a bit for our form but we've just got to keep moving on and picking up points. It's the injuries, not the long campaign, which are taking their toll.
"It's more to do with the three to four people we are missing. We're very limited in what we have available in forward areas and in midfield we are nearly drained of resources."