Axed Yakubu pays for late show

Everton's £11million record signing finally returned from the Africa Cup of Nations 48 hours late and walked straight into a tirade from a furious Moyes, who made it clear he had placed his Goodison Park future in jeopardy.

Moyes immediately dropped his 12-goal leading scorer for today's visit of Reading and even claimed he could be left out of Wednesday's UEFA Cup tie with SK Brann in Norway after ignoring an explicit warning about reporting back on time.

Prior to their departure last month Yakubu and his Nigeria team-mate Joseph Yobo were taken aside by Moyes and asked for an assurance that they would be back at Everton's Finch Farm training ground at the earliest opportunity.

Both gave Moyes their word but while Yobo turned up for training on Wednesday after Nigeria's elimination on Sunday, Yakubu effectively went AWOL.

After drawing a blank with repeated attempts to make contact with him, Everton officials booked flight tickets for him on three successive nights, only for all to remain unused. Finally, he arrived at Finch Farm yesterday morning and was hammered with the maximum fine of two weeks' wages despite being 'full of remorse' according to club insiders.

Unable to contain his anger at being let down, particularly after addressing the subject of punctuality following claims of similar waywardness from Yakubu at Middlesbrough, Moyes tore into the 25-year-old and stressed that any further indiscipline would not be tolerated.

Choosing his words carefully, the Everton manager, who received no explanation from Yakubu for his unauthorised absence, said: 'The rest of the players are extremely keen on getting Yak back into the side but they fully understand that discipline has to be in place and adhered to.

'I spoke to him about it when he came in this morning and told him he won't be in the squad against Reading. Over and above that, it is an internal matter that has been dealt with and I would rather leave it there.'

Moyes acknowledged he could be taking a gamble dispensing with his top marksman after Everton's failure to score in their last three games, but he stuck by his ruling and backed Andy Johnson to add a cutting edge to his recent improved form.

'I can see the argument about needing Yak's goals but I trust and believe in the players I have got here,' he said. 'This is a big club that has to be run properly and it is also a matter of respect for those who are doing things as they should be. There are signs that Andy is getting back to his best and he has only gone three games without a goal after scoring at Wigan, so it is hardly a drought.

'He would be the first to admit it has taken him a few games to get up and running but he is worrying defenders again and that is always a sure indication that his form is returning.

'He could easily have had two penalties in recent games and, of course, his 'goal' at Blackburn last week should never have been chalked off.'

While Moyes is unsure of Yakubu's fitness levels after a week of inactivity since Nigeria's demise last Sunday, Yobo has trained for the past three days and is in contention for a recall.

There will be no automatic return for the centre back, though, after Moyes said: 'Phil Jagielka has got better and better in recent weeks and Joleon Lescott has done really well alongside him, so Joseph faces a real battle to get his place back.'

Meanwhile, Reading boss Steve Coppell is convinced there must be a good reason behind Andre Bikey's astonishing sending-off in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinal.

The Cameroon defender misses tomorrow's final with Egypt after being dismissed in the last minute of Thursday's 1-0 win against hosts Ghana for pushing over a medic who was on the pitch to treat Rigobert Song.

Coppell said: 'He is not stupid. Something must have happened to spark it, for him to charge over there and do what he did given what was at stake and what he is now going to be missing out on.

'I can only imagine it was not on the spur of the moment. Something must have happened and he will be in emotional turmoil now. Missing the final will hurt.'