Bergen is nicknamed The City of Rain because of its high levels of precipitation, which is fitting because David Moyes, the Everton manager, is hopeful that Yakubu Ayegbeni can make a splash for the right reasons against SK Brann this evening.

Yakubu is expected to return to the starting lineup for the first leg of Everton’s Uefa Cup round of 32 match against the Norwegian champions after being omitted from Moyes’s squad for the Barclays Premier League game against Reading on Saturday as punishment for returning late from the African Cup of Nations.

The Nigeria striker was fined two weeks’ wages, about £80,000, for the breach of club discipline, but while doubts may persist about his long-term future at Goodison Park, Moyes is prepared to hand the player a second chance as Everton step up their pursuit of European silverware.

“We’ve brought him [Yakubu] with us, he’s back in and that episode has now ended,” Moyes said. “I hope he feels he has a point to prove. He let us down by not coming back, but it’s over now, we have moved on and he’s been in training for a few days, so hopefully we’ll get him ready. We hope he’ll come back and score a goal.”

Moyes’s hand perhaps has been forced by injuries to several key players. He was still undecided after the 1-0 victory at home to Reading about whether to allow Yakubu to travel to Norway, but with Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar and Thomas Gravesen ruled out and Manuel Fernandes a doubt, the manager had little choice but to include the Nigerian in his squad as he prepares to field a makeshift midfield.

Fernandes will face a late fitness test on a groin problem similar to the one that has forced Arteta to return to Spain for treatment, while Gravesen has a knee injury.

Pienaar has missed Everton’s past seven matches as a consequence of his involvement in the African Cup of Nations with South Africa and an ankle injury, but, having seen his team perform admirably in the absence of many of his best players over the past six weeks, Moyes believes that he has the depth in his squad to cope.

“I don’t think we feel as much pressure not having those players, because we’ve been playing for a long time now not really being able to field a lot of our main players,” he said. “But we have got to keep stepping up [to the plate]. We’re unbeaten [in Europe this season] and want it to remain that way.”

Having watched Rosenborg hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League last September, Moyes insists that he will not be taking Brann for granted, even though Everton’s opponents have played only a handful of games since the Norwegian Premier League season ended three months ago. Brann’s players, who include Eirik Bakke, the former Leeds United and Aston Villa midfield player, have had a fortnight of warm-weather training in La Manga, Spain, but even with a depleted team, Moyes will hope to be protecting a lead in the return leg at Goodison Park in eight days’ time. Coincidentally, Rosenborg or Fiorentina await in the round of 16.

Phil Neville, the Everton captain, has already set his sights on getting to the final at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14. “I think it has been an unbelievable journey so far and we do not want it to end,” the former Manchester United defender said. “Some people might try to make the Uefa Cup out to be a drab and dreary competition, but that’s nonsense if you look at the backing we have had. Imagine if we got to the final? So let’s just go for it.”

England head Uefa’s Fair Play rankings, raising the possibility of the country being awarded an additional place in the first qualifying round for next season’s Uefa Cup.

SK Brann (probable; 4-4-2): H Opdal – B Dahl, O Bjarnason, K Sigurdsson, E Hanstveit – J Gunnar Solli, H El-Fakiri, E Bakke, P Vaagan Moen – T Helstad, A Karadas.

Everton (probable; 4-4-1-1): T Howard – A Hibbert, P Jagielka, J Yobo, J Lescott – L Osman, L Carsley, P Neville, L Baines – T Cahill – Yakubu Ayegbeni. Referee: A Genov (Bulgaria). Television: Channel 5, from 6.45pm (kick-off 7pm).