Everton v Boro preview (KO 4pm Sunday, Goodison Park)

Sep 30 2007 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

WHEN Ayegbeni Yakubu arrived at Goodison Park last month he shunned the opportunity to wear the club’s coveted number nine jersey.

Evertonians have a special affinity with their number nines going back to the game’s first, Dixie Dean, through to the likes of Tommy Lawton, Dave Hickson, Alex Young, Joe Royle, Bob Latchford, Graeme Sharp, Kevin Campbell and Duncan Ferguson.

Having started off as number eight, the last man to wear nine on the back of a royal blue jersey, James Beattie couldn’t wait to be given the magic number yet it proved a poison chalice for him and he failed to net a single goal from open play after he had been awarded it.

But rather than shunning the legacy of Everton’s greatest centre-forwards or attempting to avoid becoming a Goodison flop like Beattie, Yakubu’s decision to sport the seemingly unlikely number 22 shirt is down to setting himself a goal target.

Yakubu, who has twice finished the season on 19 goals, had originally wanted to wear 20 but that had already been taken by Steven Pienaar so he opted for an even higher number.

You have to go back 20 years to Graeme Sharp in 1987-88 to find an Everton striker who hit 20 goals in a season while the last Goodison frontman to get past the 22-goal barrier was Gary Lineker who netted 38 in 1985-86. However, Yakubu is confident he can become the prolific finisher Everton have craved for.

He said: “I can deliver. All my life I delivered under pressure as a striker.

“If you don’t score goals you’re under pressure.

“You have to score goals and create chances for other players. I like it when there’s pressure.

“I’ve proved myself already, I’m not going to impress anyone by just scoring goals.”

Yakubu’s Everton career got off to a flying start with a goal on his debut against Bolton but following blanks against Manchester United and Metalist Kharkiv he found himself relegated to the bench at Aston Villa last Sunday.

He said: “It did not surprise me that I started on the bench at Aston Villa.

“The manager wanted me to see the way they play and understand it, I don’t have a problem with that.

“I played for 21 minutes and it was good (for me) to sit on the bench and watch the players.”

Recalled to the starting line-up at Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, the Nigerian responded in the best way possible, by scoring, and he admits the goal came as something of a relief.

He said: “It was very important for me to score at Sheffield Wednesday because as a striker you need to score goals to give you confidence.

“When you come to a new club it is difficult to get used to the players and understand how they play.

“They’re getting used to me and I’m getting used to the other Everton players. They’re seeing what I can do and where I want the ball.”

Manager David Moyes doesn’t regard his decision to drop his record signing just three weeks into his Goodison career as too significant and explains that all of his strikers will get their chance over the course of the season.

He said: “Leaving out Yakubu for the Villa game was a situation of we’ve got four strikers here and they’re not going to play all the games at the moment.

“If I think you’re bang in form then you’ll be selected.

“I don’t know how he took the decision. I just named the team and I told him what was doing.

“I think he understands, there’s quite a few games (to play over a season).”

Having recalled Yakubu at Hillsborough, Moyes was seen to be giving several touchline instructions to his £11.25million striker during the match but although he felt the Nigerian needed some particular guidance in that match, he believes that the player doesn’t have to prove himself to anyone.

He said: “I thought he was anxious and probably made a few poor decisions.

“The choices that he had to make, the shots were probably from ridiculously long range.

“If they fly in you cheer, if they don’t you tend to look to say there were better choices on and there was. He doesn’t need to make a point, he scored a goal in the first game that he played for us and has now scored another one.”

With Andrew Johnson yet to break his duck for the season and now struggling with a groin strain, a midweek brace from James McFadden came as a welcome boost.

Moyes said: “James scored a few weeks ago as well so he’s another one who is in and around things.

“The four strikers are getting their playing time and getting their opportunity.”

Having failed to keep a clean sheet in their opening eight matches of the season, not conceding at Hillsborough was also a plus for Moyes but he admits it was more important to return to winning ways.

He said: “It was good to get a first clean sheet but I’d have taken going there and winning and not keeping one.

“We want to try and stop conceding goals if we can do that. The goals changed the way the game went. That was the biggest thing for me that we got three goals.

“I didn’t think Aston Villa played particularly well against us but won the game even though I felt we played better than them on the day.”

As Yakubu’s former team-mates arrive at Goodison Park tomorrow with the incentive of leapfrogging Everton in the table by winning, Moyes is wary that it will not be an easy ride.

He said: “It will be a tough game, Middlesbrough are an improving side.

“They’ve had to make a few changes, Gareth (Southgate) has probably had to make a lot of decisions regarding changing the players around in his squad and the way they play which takes time as well.

“From a distance it looks like they’re starting to do much better. There are new players that he’s had to bring in having lost (Mark) Viduka and Yakubu as well.”

He added: “They’ve done well, their youth policy has been very good to them. That was really noticeable when they were in the UEFA Cup, they were able to call upon young players to play in the team.”

Meanwhile, Australian midfielder Tim Cahill has earmarked the Merseyside derby at Goodison on October 20 as a possible comeback date.

He said: “There’s another X-ray coming up and it’s in the hands of the staff here at the club. As soon as I had the problem in the Werder Bremen game I was looking at when I could get back. The first goal was the UEFA Cup games, and then it was the derby. It is a brilliant game to play in and I have enjoyed some good times.”