Vic Vital To Comeback

David Moyes hails Anichebe's contribution in 3-3 draw with Villa.

David Moyes insists Victor Anichebe deserves high praise for helping Everton twice come from behind against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Blues found themselves in the shock position of being 3-1 down at Goodison Park with less than 30 minutes to play, but Marouane Fellaini netted on 68 minutes and then again in injury time to rescue a vital point at the death.

The midfielder received much of the plaudits for his late brace, but Moyes believes Anichebe's contribution was just as worthy of the man of the match award.

He said: "Marouane's a really important player for us at any time. We've missed his goals - he hasn't scored in a while. But more importantly, I thought Victor's performance was excellent.

"He scored the first, set up the second and he was involved in an awful lot of good things. He can be pleased with how he played."

Indeed, it was the Nigerian who grabbed Everton's first goal of the afternoon. Using his strength with his back to goal, Anichebe turned Ciaran Clark and drilled past Brad Guzan to make it 1-1 following Villa's surprise early opener.

It was the striker's sixth goal of the season - already his best tally for the first-team since coming through the Club's Academy system. Having started only 12 games in all competitions this term, the stat gives Anichebe a very respectable strike-rate.

Saturday was his third successive start and second in favour of Croatian hitman Nikica Jelavic, a switch Moyes hopes will benefit both men.

He said: "We needed somebody to pick up where Jela had left off last year. He needed a little bit of a break to regain a bit of confidence and to freshen up. Let's hope that when we bring him back, he'll be ready to get some goals.

"We always had big hopes for Victor. We kept a lot of faith in him through injuries and different times, but we always thought he had something.

"He needs to believe in himself a little bit more and I think he's doing that.

"He's getting good support from the crowd as well which I think is helping him too."