Moyes backs his forwards to fire Blues up the table

DAVID MOYES has challenged his forwards to deliver the goals needed to help Everton climb the Premier League table - insisting he believes they can do just that.

- By JOE THOMAS

Beto and Thierno Barry struggled to find the back of the net during preseason. Beto’s penalty against Accrington Stanley in July was the only goal scored by either across seven matches, leading to the Blues boss laying down a challenge during preparations for the new campaign.

That was a tactic designed to spur Beto on, Moyes revealed, as he backed the pair to score the chances created by the arsenal around them and said: “I absolutely have faith in the two strikers.”

Moyes entered the summer with the ambition of addressing the club's longstanding firepower issues.

To deliver his plan, however, the recruitment drive has focused primarily on attacking midfielders who Moyes hopes will contribute goals while creating chances for his front men.

The expectation is signings Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Carlos Alcaraz and Tyler Dibling will combine with Iliman Ndiaye and Dwight McNeil to prevent whoever is up front from becoming isolated.

With the transfer window set to close on Monday and Youssef Chermiti in talks over a move to Rangers, Moyes was asked ahead of the trip to Wolves whether he had any concerns about his forwards.

He said: “We're needing our number nines to be the ones who do it. Beto ended up with eight goals [in the Premier League] last year. For probably only playing half the season, it was a brilliant record.

“I have been challenging him to push him. People think I don’t want him, it's not, it’s really to try and prod him to see if I can get goals.