DAVID Moyes has urged Everton fans not to expect too much of Steven Naismith yet, despite the new boy marking his home debut with a pre-season hat-trick.
The Blues boss said he is still trying to bring in further attacking options before the transfer window closes at the end of the month, and urged supporters to give Naismith time to regain full fitness.
Scotland international Naismith has barely played since rupturing cruciate ligaments for his former club Rangers last October, and although Moyes is excited about his ability he knows the 25-year-old will need time to adjust to the Premier League.
He said: “I don’t want too much heat on him. It’s one thing scoring in a pre-season friendly than scoring in the Premier League. But if he can start as well as Jelavic then we will be delighted.
“I’m playing it down, he’s been out for nine months so we can’t expect him to be completely ready right at the start.
“He can play a couple of positions for us. We’re still getting to know him and learning more about him.”
Everton are not interested in signing Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku on loan, nor are they one of the sides pursuing Michael Owen, but Moyes still wants to add a pacy right winger and striking cover to his squad before August 31.
“I’m going to keep trying and looking around,” he said. “I’ve got a similar squad to last season. We’re certainly down on numbers a wee bit as far as squad numbers. Our team is pretty much what we finished with last season, so we could just do with keeping them fit and if we can add to it then great.”
Meanwhile, Phil Jagielka has returned to training ahead of Saturday’s final friendly against Malaga after being rested as a precaution for the Blues’ last two warm-ups against Blackpool and AEK Athens.
The England defender had a slight hamstring problem and Moyes said: “Jags had a tight hamstring, Sylvain had a tight hamstring on Sunday so we didn’t take any chances with him. We just don’t want to get it wrong.”
