Moyes searches for end to goal drought

Everton manager David Moyes refuses to confirm he will make a January signing as he desperately searches for a goal scorer.

Leading scorer Tim Cahill will be missing for a month after Saturday’s trip to Stoke when he flies out to represent Australia in the Asian Cup.

Moyes said the whole team was responsible for filling the void left by Cahill.

“I need somebody to score me goals. If I don’t get the goals then I’m going to have to keep looking to find a solution,” Moyes said.

“I’ve asked ‘Have they been creating enough opportunities? Have they been creating enough chances?'”

“I mean, sometimes centre-forwards say they didn’t get a chance and got bad service and I think that’s been the case in several games.”

“But if you look at the majority of them we have had opportunities to score. I think it’s not always falling to centre forwards – Sylvain Distain had two opportunities in midweek and didn’t score so it’s not always been the centre-forwards.”

Everton sit in mid-table at present, but Moyes knows that things could change very quickly, starting with a win at the Brittania Stadium.

“I don’t know if it’s nervous football but I think because the league is very tight you know that a couple of defeats and a bit of poor form could find you at the wrong end of the table,” Moyes said.

“In the same breath, run into good form and you could find yourself very easily moving away from the pack.”

“In football management you’re always trying to look long-term, but in the main, you’re always looking short-term to try and get a couple of results, then you can start to look a bit further afield.”

“I wouldn’t say we’re looking forward to it but because we know it is going to be tough but we look forward to going there and competing.”

Defenders Phil Jagielka (thigh) and John Heitinga (knee) both have an outside chance of making the game.