The Nigeria striker scored his first goal since April to secure a 1-0 win over Stoke and maintain the Toffees' revival yesterday.

Having begun October bottom of the Barclays Premier League, David Moyes' men are now just four points behind title challengers Manchester City after extending their unbeaten run to five games.

Yakubu's 67th-minute winner also capped a fine personal performance.

The 27-year-old has started Everton's last six matches after being left out at the start of the campaign by Moyes due to a lack of match fitness.

Yakubu said: "As a striker sometimes you have good chances and you don't take them but I was there at the right time and took it really good.

"It is really good to score goals. It had been six or seven games and I hadn't scored, so to get a goal will give me more confidence and I am going to score goals.

"I think my fitness is really good, better than last season.

"Hopefully I can score goals and help the team, and the team can achieve something this season.

"It is not going to be easy but we want to play in Europe next season.

"Hopefully we will start doing the right thing on the pitch and we will get into Europe - but there is still a long way to go."

Yakubu's goal was also the first by an Everton striker in the Premier League this season.

Jermaine Beckford is taking time to settle following his summer move from Leeds while last season's top scorer Louis Saha is only just feeling his way back into action after almost two months out injured.

Yakubu has struggled to regain his best form since suffering the Achilles injury that ruled him out for almost a year in 2008.

But with the return of Saha, Yakubu feels competition in the squad is growing and that will only help him.

"It is always like that playing for Everton," said Yakubu, who hit 21 goals in his first season at the club following his £11.25million move from Middlesbrough in 2007.

"You have to fight for your place and whenever you get the chance you have to take it.

"It has been really great but we will fight together and work as a team.

"We knew when we were at the bottom we were not under pressure because we had good players and we could turn things around.

"We have done it already and we don't want to stop."

While Everton's season has turned around after a dreadful first six matches, Stoke's has gone the opposite way.

The Potters have now lost four in succession with the Goodison Park disappointment following last-gasp defeats to Bolton and Manchester United and an extra-time Carling Cup exit at West Ham.

Luck appears to have deserted them with crucial decisions not going their way in the league games.

After being denied a blatant penalty at Bolton and then being angered when United's Gary Neville was not sent off last week, they had a goal disallowed at Everton.

Tuncay was the player denied when he was adjudged to have fouled Leighton Baines as he bundled the ball into the net at the far post following a free-kick.

Stoke could further consider themselves unfortunate as Ryan Shawcross and Matthew Etherington missed two of the best opportunities of a cagey game.

But Abdoulaye Faye missed the chance to clear before the Tim Cahill shot that hit the host to set up Yakubu for the winner and the Senegal defender was hurt by the result.

"That's four (successive) games now we have lost, this has never happened," said the 32-year-old.

"We need to look forward now and win the next game against Sunderland because we can't lose five games.

"Everybody is disappointed, it is hard for the club and hard for everybody. Everybody is upset - this has never happened before, never.

"We need to forget this game.

"We need to keep the ball and play football. We have more players now, better players this season.

"Everybody is working hard."