Back at Merseyside, Everton fans are having a good time after seeing their prized bull, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, got back to scoring form last weekend. The fans were hoping the Yak would end his goal drought in the qualifiers for 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup, and they got their wish.

When Sporting Champion monitored the club’s website, the fan’s blog revealed that all the fans were closely following the performance of their record goal scorer. Many of them concluded that Aiyegbeni would even perform better than last season’s.

Meanwhile, the Everton forward, who recently took a wife said he did not feel any pressure for the period he had been unable to score for the Super Eagles.

Yakubu said: "I believe in myself as a striker and I don’t feel any pressure even when people talk, because I know I can score goals. I believe I can score and if the players we have [in the Nigeria squad] give us the ball, I will score goals.

"It happens in football. You play three, four games and you don’t score and people start saying ‘what is wrong with you’. It’s like you are under pressure, but for me I am not under pressure. I still believed that with the players we have the goals will come.

"If I get the chances I will score, but in these games I never had any chances to score the goals."

he newly contracted manager of Blackburn Rovers, Paul Ince, has come forward to explain the reason behind the move for Seyi Olofinjana as his first major signing this summer.

Ince, a former Manchester United and Wolves player, said Olofinjana is a committed player who plays with creativity in the midfield. The gaffer disclosed that he needed someone with character who can command the necessary respect in the midfield.

"My interest in him is based on what I know about him back in the days when I played with him. Even now, he has improved quite well, and I believe his experience and commitment is good for the Premiership," Ince said of the 28 year old.

Olofinjana has been placed on the transfer list at his own request and Ince knows him well from his time at Molineux.

Olofinjana, who was signed from Norwegian side Brann Bergen for £1.7m in 2004, has activated a contract clause which stated that should Wolves have missed out on promotion then he will be made available for transfer.

The refusal of Kanu Nwakwo to put pen to paper for another year in Portsmouth is giving the club’s gaffer, Harry Redknapp, a considerable headache. The coach’s desperation to fill the post if the negotiation ended in a stalemate has made Pompey to offer a club £9 million for Liverpool’s Peter Crouch.

The rejection of Portsmouth offer for the tall striker is likely to make Redknapp have a change of heart towards the details of Kanu’s contract.

"We are trying to do deals to bring in players and [chief executive] Peter Storrie is working on trying to get things done.

"But the fee seems a bit too high, and at the end of the day it comes down to the price.

"It seems like things are getting a bit too expensive.

"Crouchie is a player who is on our list, but if nothing can be done then we will just move on to the next player."

Kanu has hesitated to sign the new contract which offers just one year deal, but the FA Cup hero believes he deserved much more than he was being offered, citing his contributions in the team towards their last season’s achievement.

Pompey is in desperate search for a reliable forward ahead of next season’s campaigns in the Premiership and the UEFA Cup.