The Nigerian was fined and dropped at the weekend for his late arrival back from the African Nations Cup, and the striker admitted "the gaffer was very angry with me".

And ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Cup triumph away to Brann Bergen, Yakubu apologised to the club, manager and players for his behaviour.

He was then told by Moyes to produce a display to make it up to his team-mates - and the 26-year-old did just that.

Surrounded by delighted colleagues in the bowels of the Brann Stadium after the 2-0 last-32 first-leg victory, Yakubu said: "It was bad and the gaffer was very angry. I have to thank the players too because they were behind me. They gave me support.

"I apologised to them all and I'm so pleased it is all over. It was just personal reasons why I never turned up.

"I have spoken to the manager and now it is over, but I think the players were glad to see me back. It is good to be in a team where you know the players want you and they make you feel important. I have to thank them for being behind me.

"I feel like part of a family here with everyone working together. We want to win something and achieve something together. I am so pleased to be playing again and it is thanks to the players and the manager."

Yakubu was thrilled with a solid team performance in Scandinavia.

He added: "I tried to score against Bergen but it is not important I scored - we worked as a team and I am so pleased we got the result we wanted thanks to goals from Ossie (Leon Osman) and Victor (Anichebe). It is good to be back again.

"It was a good feeling to go to a place like Bergen and get a result like that. Winning 2-0 is not easy because they are a good team but it is not over yet - we are only halfway there.

"We won't get carried away and we will do everything to make sure we finish the job."

Yakubu also had praise for his compatriot Anichebe, who scored Everton's second goal.

He said: "Victor is doing great. You can see in training that he is getting better.

"He can become the top scorer in the Premier League one day. The young players are doing so well and they are fighting for a place in the team.

"I give him advice if I can. We strikers stick together. I tell him things that he should be doing. It is good to have a player like that on the pitch you must encourage."

Yakubu is confident that Everton can finish the job in next Thursday's second leg at Goodison Park.

But he warned: "There is still a job to do and we have to be careful. You can score two goals when you are away but you can also concede three at home. This tie is not done already and we must focus on the next game.

"But if we score even one more goal next week, we will be in the next round."

The final moments of the game were marred by a pitch invasion by delighted Everton fans, and also when Bulgarian referee Anton Genov picked up an object thrown on to the pitch from the home fans' end.

On the behaviour of Everton's fans, skipper Phil Neville - who was seen ushering fans back over the perimeter fence - said: "I know a few of our fans came on to celebrate, but to be fair to them they have travelled everywhere with us and they were only wanting to celebrate.

"Maybe the stewarding is not as good as it is in England, but they should not really come on like that. We have to remind ourselves how to behave in Europe and I hope there are not any repercussions because of that, it was really very harmless.

"It was all good natured, I asked them to go back and I suppose they are about the only people who do listen to me out on the pitch! They were just excited, they wanted the players' shirts, that's all.

"But in UEFA competitions they do come down hard on people, and I just wanted them to remember their responsibilities to Everton."