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A season spent peering over his shoulder rather than staring straight ahead, while coping with the demands of an unforgiving spotlight in which he can be villain one week, hero the next.

Yet as Everton prepare for the pivotal showdown with Newcastle, a clash that will either ease relegation fears or intensify thoughts of the unthinkable, the striker believes his experiences will prove the making of him.

This is the campaign in which Lukaku has had to stand on his own two feet. It bodes well for manager Roberto Martinez that the responsibility of carrying a £28m price-tag at the age of 21is a burden he has refused to shed. “Maybe it was the season that I needed…to feel how it is to be the main man and stuff like that,” he said. “It has taught me a lot, especially mentally.

“I’m a very strong boy, but you know people expect more and more from you. When you look at the chances I had at the start (the scrutiny) comes, then when you start scoring it goes way. “When you don’t score again, it comes back. When you score you are a hero. Personally I don’t let my head go down, I just keep working hard.

“If I don’t score I try to give an assist, if I do score I try to give an assist and score another. I still have a respectable amount of goals – the same as last season now – so there is improvement but I want to get better and make the team better and help them.

“It’s been a very good learning experience but I don’t want to learn at this time. I want to win.”