DAVID Moyes unfairly suggested he took a dive or two at the weekend, but Mauro Formica is finally showing serious signs that he is finding his feet at Blackburn Rovers.

The Everton manager won’t be registering to join the Argentine’s fan club any time soon after claiming he twice conned referee Lee Mason on Saturday.

But Moyes was wrong. Formica showed great technique and clever awareness to draw in rash tackles from Ross Barkley and Phil Jagielka and, on both occasions, the Toffee tacklers gave Mason very little option but to point to the spot.

Either way, the assessment from the opposition camp should not detract from Formica’s performance which can be rightly described as his best in a Rovers shirt.

On a highly frustrating afternoon at Ewood Park – as Rovers slumped to their worst start to a league campaign in 60 years – the display from Blackburn’s number 10 was heart-warming to the club’s fans, who have waited patiently for the South American to come to life.

Almost from the minute he replaced the injured Morten Pedersen, Formica set out to grab the match by the scruff of its neck.

Of course, he’s technically gifted. We all knew that.

But for the first time, in a high-pressure match, he backed up his ability with the confidence to break down opponents.

Some of his touches in Everton’s final third oozed class and intelligence, picking out short and medium passes to his team-mates with the style that you would expect from a Latin American playmaker.

That cute penalty box flick to David Goodwillie alone, which the Scot really should have buried, was worth the admission fee alone.

There was very little of the out-of-control distribution that littered his game last season.

Not only that, but Formica’s determination and work-rate, allied to his guile and trickery, were second to none. After being relegated to the bench, it was a clear statement of intent to Steve Kean that said ‘don’t drop me again’.

Kean turned to the Rovers old guard for the clash with Everton, leaving his quartet of signings – Formica, Goodwillie, Ruben Rochina and Radosav Petrovic – kicking their heels on the bench.

It was a decision that confused many, and raised the inevitable question mark of whether Kean trusts his new players in the cauldron of the Premier League.

If he believes they are ready, he must try to give them the game-time they need to develop.

Formica, especially, cannot possibly benefit from playing one week, then out of the side the next.

We’ve seen before, most recently with Nikola Kalinic, that overseas players can become disillusioned if they feel they are not given a sustained run in the team.

Formica looks to be relishing the opporunity at Ewood. Now’s the time to give him his big chance.

* Andy Cryer is away on holiday.

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