“Go for it!”: Yakubu says Everton have no excuse not to go full-strength in cups and chase silverware | OneFootball

(Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Yakubu has called on Everton to go for it in the cup competitions this season and insists there is no excuse for fielding understrength sides.

Everton head to Preston North End in the Carabao Cup's second round this evening, aiming to improve on a poor recent record in the domestic cups.

The Toffees have reached one quarter-final in the last eight domestic cup campaigns, and did not progress past the third round of either competition last season.

David Moyes' pre-match comments did little to inspire confidence that there is a focus on ending Everton's trophy drought, which stretched to 31 years last season.

Yakubu wants that stance to change and insists there are no excuses not to focus on cup success in the absence of European football.

Speaking exclusively to ToffeeWeb in the latest edition of Once a Blue, Yakubu called on Moyes to stick with the side that beat Crystal Palace at the weekend.

‘We can win something’: Yakubu urges Everton to take cups seriously

“When you look at most of the clubs in the Premier League, the main focus is to survive and not to finish in the top six or top eight. For us, we are not in Europe, so focus more on the two cups," he said.

“You never know, the FA Cup could get us into Europe as well. It’s always good to be focused on winning a trophy.

“Every manager now is the same. Back in the day, they used to treat it like a friendly game! We have to go for it. We’re playing once a week, it’s not like we’re in Europe and we need to rest players. I think we need to give it our best and use the best players who are ready to play. We should go for it.”

Asked if he would go full-strength at Preston if he were in the manager's shoes, Yakubu added: “100%. Go the same [team that beat Crystal Palace]. It’s the beginning of the season. Use the same XI, it’s not like they’re tired. Just go for it, we don’t need to rest players. We can win something. The club's history [without winning a trophy] has been too long.

“You have a stadium like that, you know, you have to put a trophy there. So we need it. I think he needs to go for it.”