Moyes desperate to land new goalscorer

DAVID MOYES has promised worried Everton fans he is working hard to plug gaping holes in his squad left by the departure of Marcus Bent and the ongoing saga over striker Duncan Ferguson’s availability.

Bent has joined Charlton for £2 million (€2.9m), rising to £2.5m (€3.6m) on appearances, while Ferguson - the subject of several days of transfer intrigue - has been ruled out of tonight’s FA Cup third-round replay with Millwall.

Having two strikers out of his squad has left manager Moyes with just record signing James Beattie as his only fully-fit frontman.

The Goodison Park cup tie, even though Chelsea are the potential opponents in the next round, has been overshadowed by Moyes’ attempts to replenish his squad while speculation about Ferguson’s future grows.

He insists he will have the cash from the Bent sale to add to his limited kitty, and sources at the club claim he has at least £5m (€7.3m) to spend.

Moyes said: “The board here have always been very good, they always make everything available to me that they can and I am sure that the money we get from the Marcus Bent deal will be available to me.

“But spending it is a different question. We are short, though, in the striking department. We were short even while Marcus Bent was here.”

Everton, though, have been priced out of the race for Dean Ashton, Nicolas Anelka and Andy Johnson while Moyes is not - currently - interested in West Brom’s Wales international Robert Earnshaw.

Swansea’s Lee Trundle, Blackburn’s Paul Dickov and Rangers’ Peter Lovenkrands are believed to be targets.

And there is speculation from Denmark that misfit defender Per Kroldrup is a possible transfer window departure, despite only arriving in the summer from Udinese for £5m.

Meanwhile the position of striker Ferguson is unclear after interest from Portsmouth last week, with a reported 18-month contract and wage rise on offer. But Ferguson, says Moyes, will not be involved against Millwall despite being back in training.