David Moyes: I won't use Louis Saha sparingly

Saha, who will commit himself to the club until June 2011, was hampered by injury for much of his four-year stay at Old Trafford during which he made 124 appearances and scored 41 goals.

The forward is currently recovering from a calf strain, and Moyes accepts the player must then address the inevitable psychological effects of continued periods on the sidelines.

"Louis Saha has had no pre-season games, and there's no estimate when he may play," said the Everton manager. "As far as I know, he is in pretty good nick, he had just picked up a calf strain in training.

"That's not far away from being okay now. Yes, he's had injury problems and if he had been playing every game, we wouldn't be getting him for next to nothing. There will be some money after he's played games but there is no initial outlay.

"The thing is that your body misses the contact and rigours of playing games regularly. If you are not used to that, you get concerns about them and you wonder whether they will be able to take the contact from challenges. We can't tell until he has played in some games."

Moyes added: "He has to play before we pay. If you speak to people who have worked with him, they will tell you he is a top centre forward.

"What we need to do is get him out there. If I can get him out 20 times a season, that would give us a chance of winning 20 games. I won't use him sparingly. I'll use him at every opportunity if he is fit."

Everton are hopeful of further bolstering their attacking options with a loan move for Inter Milan winger Victor Obinna, despite their work permit application having been refused earlier this week.

"There is an appeal on the work permit set for Monday," said Moyes yesterday. "He was in today for a medical. As far as I am concerned, that deal is done bar the work permit.

"I hope that there could be

more signings and I would like to bring some more in. We told supporters that we didn't have much money to spend and people knew that there wasn't going to be much money. It's a bit depressing that the likes of Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are spending big. But we might make big signings before the deadline. I'm not sure."

Segundo Castillo will join fellow new arrival Lars Jacobsen in the squad for today's visit of Portsmouth having received international clearance to play.

Victor Anichebe returned from the Olympics with a knee injury, while James Vaughan could be handed a start after his impressive substitute appearance in last week's win at West Bromwich Albion.

Tim Cahill, Tony Hibbert and Steven Pienaar are all out, although Dan Gosling has recovered from a thigh strain.

THERE are still tickets remaining for today's game. Supporters can either visit evertonfc.com, ring 0870 442 1878, or visit the Park End Box Office.