Pienaar pleased at Yak’s return

Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar has described Yakubu as one of the best strikers that he has played with.

The Nigerian forward has recently returned to action following injury, and is now on international duty ahead of their World Cup qualifier with Mozambique.

“I’m so happy for him,” Pienaar told evertonTV. “He’s worked really hard in his rehab and has got back (to fitness) quite early. On his comeback (against Hull City), he scored so that just shows the type of player he is and it’s also good for the team to have a striker back who can score goals.

“When you know you’re going to be out for a long time, you have to be strong and you need all the support that you can get. I was always talking to him over the phone if I didn’t see him, and just kept on encouraging him. I’ve been through a long injury and I know how it feels; sometimes you can lose your head.”

Pienaar added: “Yakubu is definitely up there. I had Ibrahimovic in my team, but Yakubu can score more goals than any other striker in the world. If you look at his record, he’s just an amazing goalscorer.”