We can overcome injuries - Arteta

Yakubu limped off in the first half of the 1-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday

Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta says the team can regroup despite news that Yakubu has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles.

"We feel really sorry for Yak because we know how important he is to us," the Spaniard told BBC Radio Merseyside.

Yakubu joins Louis Saha and James Vaughan on the sidelines, but Arteta says the other players can adapt.

"We are short of strikers but we are playing five midfielders now and maybe we just need one up front. "

Yakubu sustained the injury during the 1-0 victory at Tottenham, and manager David Moyes now finds himself short of strikers.

Louis Saha picked up a hamstring injury in the same game, and Vaughan needs surgery on a knee problem.

But Arteta believes the squad must now pull together and concentrate on the next game against Aston Villa on Sunday.

"The game against Villa is going to be massive so we have to prepare and help the team-mates as much as we can, not think about the injuries and focus on the games."