YAKUBU is confident he will be fit for the start of the season – to help Everton in their quest for qualification to the group stages of the rebranded Europa League.

The Nigeria international has not played since rupturing his Achilles during the victory at Tottenham Hotspur last November.

Yakubu was instantly ruled out for the remainder of the campaign and has since undergone a period of intense rehabilitation in the hope of being available for the new term.

And the striker is now back working full time at Finch Farm and has targeted full fitness in time for the Premier League kick-off on August 15.

“I feel good,” said Yakubu. “I’m back in training, I’ve started running, started kicking the ball and hopefully I’ll be back for the beginning of next season.”

While Yakubu remains hopeful, other fellow long-term absentees Mikel Arteta nor Phil Jagielka are both expected to miss the start of the season.

Everton manager David Moyes – who continues to ponder a move for out-of-contract striker Michael Owen – will not rush Yakubu back into the first team, but will be mindful of a busy opening fortnight to the campaign.

As the leading English qualifier for the Europa League – a revamped version of the UEFA Cup – the Goodison outfit only need to negotiate one round before the lucrative group stages.

Moyes’s men will play a two-legged play-off to qualify for the new group stage which, as in the Champions League, features four teams per group playing each other home and away.

When Everton reached the last 16 in 2007-08, the group stage consisted of five teams playing each other only once.

The play-off games are scheduled to take place on August 20 and August 27, sandwiched in between the opening three games of the Premier League season.