Moyes: we can win UEFA Cup and reach Champions League

DAVID MOYES believes he has a squad good enough to win the UEFA Cup and qualify for next season’s Champions League.

The Everton manager arrived in Scandinavia with a depleted party for tonight’s UEFA Cup last-32 first-leg clash with Norwegian champions Brann Bergen but believing he is on the brink of major achievement in Europe. Moyes said: “We have the squad to win the UEFA Cup and qualify for the Champions League. I do not see it as a choice, nobody can pick the one they want. But we are good enough. We have coped recently with a lot of players missing and we are still in fourth spot in the league.

“We will be missing more for this game, but that is how it has been for the past few weeks. But we have coped. Now I hope we can cope with the remaining 12 Premier League games with all our players coming back, and another half dozen in the UEFA Cup. It is not beyond us.”

Everton are without midfielder Mikel Arteta (groin) and colleague Steven Pienaar (ankle), while Thomas Gravesen was also not in the travelling party. But top-scorer Ayegbeni Yakubu was on the plane to Norway.

Fined and dropped for the weekend win over Reading, the Nigerian has apologised for his late return from the African tournament and can expect to start against Brann.

Moyes said: “The Yakubu situation is finished. He is here and we have moved on, and we have a good squad with him here. But losing Mikel Arteta is a massive blow.

“He is a big player for our team and to lose him from such an important game is a major blow. You need your best players for this sort of game. But we have come through a difficult period without several key players and we are still there.

“We will need a clean sheet for the first-leg — if we can achieve that we have a great chance of getting into the next round.”

Everton will have massive backing in the 17,000-capacity Brann stadium tonight, with yesterday’s flights to Norway packed with Toffees fans.

And Moyes believes his side can deliver for them. He said: “After the season we have had in the Premier League, the key now is to stay in the UEFA Cup. We need to kick on, we have won all our group matches and now we have two legs against Brann, so we must concentrate fully to get into the last 16.”