YAKUBU has vowed to banish the memory of his injury misery by breaking the 20-goal barrier again and helping Everton to another cup final this season.

The striker has endured almost eight months of hard toil and rehabilitation after his previous campaign was ended last November when he ruptured his Achilles tendon at Tottenham Hotspur.

Yakubu’s injury thwarted attempts to repeat his debut year at Goodison, when the Nigerian became the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley in 1992 to score 20 goals in a season.

The forward was also forced to sit on the sidelines as David Moyes’s side won their way to a first cup final in 14 years where they lost 2-1 to Chelsea.

Yakubu travelled with the first-team squad for the tour to North America and was made a significant step in his recovery when he played in a practice match earlier this week.

And although he has yet to set a date for his return to senior action, the 26-year-old’s sights are already on a goal-laden campaign.

“I have never scored below 10, so I want to score more; it would be nice to score more than 20,” said Yakubu. “I just want to score as many as possible.

“I just want to keep fit, get better and score goals and hopefully get to a final and win a trophy.

“Of course, I was disappointed not to play in the FA Cup final last season. But like I said I hope we get to a final this time and we will win it this time.”