The Blues boss thought that the match against Blackburn in midweek had caught up with some of his players in the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park. "All in all I've got to be pleased because there's a few in the squad who are running on empty. All credit to them, they've kept out hopes alive. "It was a close call whether or not to start with Forssell. He scored the goal on Wednesday but I felt that Heskey and Sutton have been very, very good for us when played together. "The problems we've had in terms of personnel have been there all season and I think you could see them there today. "We've got to play Newcastle next week. It'll be tough but we'll be looking for a win. "If someone had said in January when we had 12 points that we would have amassed 20-odd points by this stage of the season I think we would have snapped their hands off.
"We were disappointed not to match Portsmouth's result but our efforts in midweek caught up with us. I think you could see that Heksey and Pennant were not 100 per cent fit," Bruce said after the game at Goodison Park.
"We've given ourselves a chance and I hope there's another twist in the story yet."