Moyes pleased with Anichebe return

Everton boss David Moyes will ease Victor Anichebe back to action after the striker scored the winner against West Bromwich Albion.

In a match of few chances, the Nigerian, playing his first league game since tearing a muscle in his groin on international duty in September, struck late on to give Everton a 1-0 win on Sunday.

Everton have only scored 19 times in 18 Premier League matches this season and no player has managed more than three goals, but Moyes is hoping they can profit when Anichebe regains full fitness.

“He’s someone who we’ve missed, he’s someone who’s got a lot of potential if we get the opportunity to unwrap it really,” the Scot told reporters.

“He’s missed a lot of football. At times he lacks a little bit of self-confidence. I think the goal today and the reaction from the supporters will help him. Everybody likes it when you score the winning goal in a Premier League game.”

“He even felt tired after 25 minutes. It’s going to be a case of gradually bringing him back on and getting him match fit.”

Anichebe was one of three players to come on in the first 20 minutes of the second half as Moyes looked to revitalise an Everton side who were on the back foot.

But despite the changes having an impact, Moyes felt neither side deserved to win with goalkeepers Ben Foster and Tim Howard rarely tested.

“I think they (West Brom) did (deserve a draw). We had to make sure the game wasn’t going to go in West Brom’s favour. They’d just started to get a wee bit more steam up in the second half and I wanted to alter it,” he said.

Meanwhile, West Brom manager Roy Hodgson admitted the home defeat was hard to take.

“I don’t think (the busy schedule has caught up with us). No more for us than the other teams,” he said.

“It was a 0-0 game where both teams defended quite well I thought, nullified each other somewhat, but it wasn’t a 0-0 game that’s the problem, it was a 0-1 game.”

“I think 0-1 games, especially when the goal for them comes so late in the game – as it did against Stoke – they are the hardest result to accept, hardest results to come to terms with.”