DAVID MOYES has challenged loan star Jo to start reproducing his goalscoring form away from Goodison.
The Brazilian has impressed at Everton since arriving on a six-month loan from Manchester City in January, his brace against Wigan Athletic last week taking the forward to five goals in seven appearances.
However, all of those strikes have come on home turf with the Brazilian yet to net in an away Premier League game after moving to City for £18million from CSKA Moscow last summer.
Everton travel to Aston Villa tomorrow afternoon for a game Moyes regards as a “must win” if they are to retain any hope of Champions League qualification.
And the Goodison manager has urged Jo to continue his fine goalscoring form and improve his chances of making the move permanent during the forthcoming transfer window.
“He has come to Everton and done a good job – certainly at home,” said Moyes. “We have still got to see him do enough away from home, that has been a concern.
“His goals are invaluable. He’s scored five goals in seven games, so it’s a really good record.
“Let’s hope he keeps it up. If he does it will be a really good loan signing, which isn’t easy to get in the January window.”
Everton travel to Villa Park just one point and one position behind the fifth-placed Midlanders after their 4-0 thumping of Wigan last Sunday.
However, the Goodison outfit are seven points behind Arsenal and the final Champions League qualification place, and Moyes said of tomorrow’s match: “Is it a must-win game? Well if we want to get into the Champions League, the answer is ‘yes’.
“Both ourselves and Aston Villa are in a strong position to qualify for Europe, so it depends how you look at it.
“The first thing we have got to do is go and win the game. But it will be tough. Martin has done a great job; he did the same at Leicester, then at Celtic.
“I thought Villa were really strong favourites to finish fourth earlier this season.
“Some people were even saying there was even a chance of them pushing all the way for the top and that shows you what a great job Martin has done.”
Moyes has dismissed the suggestion his team’s forthcoming Wembley date with Manchester United will detract from their efforts in securing a top-four finish.
“This is a big game for us and it is going to keep the boys focused,” he added. “We are having to concentrate and the most important thing is to get the points this weekend. That is the only thing I am interested in. The Premier League is always the priority.
“As far as I am concerned, there is no other game in my mind. It will be difficult and Villa will feel a bit disappointed that they never got a point against Manchester United last week. I have to be cautious of that.”
Tim Howard is expected to be available despite suffering a thigh problem against Wigan that prevented him from taking goal kicks during the closing stages of the game.
“I want to win against Aston Villa and I’m not even considering another game at the moment, so I would take the risk in playing him,” said Moyes.
