David Moyes argues that misfiring striker's 'stupid' bookings make it more likely he'll be substituted

David Moyes says ‘stupid’ yellow cards are not helping striker Thierno Barry in his cause to be the main man at Everton – as the team’s No 9 problems continue.

Moyes has chopped and changed between Barry, who signed from Villarreal for £27million in the summer, and fellow striker Beto this season but the two out-of-form stars have just one league goal between them.

It has been a clear problem for the Toffees whose creative trio, often Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye, are creating chances only for poor or unlucky finishing to let the team down including some high-profile misses.

And Moyes says Barry, who has been booked twice, is not helping himself when it comes to team selection and in-game decisions.

‘It is something we are mentioning, he will feel it himself, we don’t think he is doing that badly at times he is doing OK, we need him to score goals whether he is doing good or bad,’ said the Everton boss, whose team take on fellow mid-table side Fulham on Saturday.

‘But we are saying, “By the way, if you are getting yourself stupidly booked then you are making it easier for us to make that decision because we cannot take the risk of going down to 10 men”.’

Moyes’s men are on a run of just one win in their last eight games, including a Carabao Cup exit, but have a chance to put an inconsistent run behind them against former Everton boss Marco Silva and his Fulham side.

The Toffees won at Craven Cottage last year but had gone winless in seven meetings before that. Moyes has 19 Premier League wins over the Cottagers, though, and they are statistically his favourite team to face by some distance.

‘Everybody is watching the games the same as me,’ he added on his strikers. ‘We are taking them off because they are probably not getting us the goals or the opportunities and we are saying, “Well, let’s see if the other one can do it”.

‘What we have actually done has got Barry more football than I probably expected early on if I was being honest, but he has lost himself minutes by getting a booking. He got a booking against Wolves and so we weren't taking the chance at half-time.’

Key winger Iliman Ndiaye, who scored a sensational goal at Sunderland on Monday, has been passed fit after being substituted at the Stadium of Light halfway through the second half.