Moyes takes blame for Beckford's poor start to life in Premier League

Beckford finally opened his Barclays Premier League goalscoring account by curling home a brilliant late equaliser against Bolton on Wednesday.

It ended a long wait for the 26-year-old who, after proving prolific at League One level with Leeds United, initially found the step up to the top flight difficult after his summer move from Elland Road.

Moyes said: "It's a big leap, two divisions – it is a big thing we are asking him to do.

"What I didn't want was a lot of media putting pressure on him to come into the team and score goals.

"But it wasn't the media, it was me. That is why I took responsibility.

"I put him in the team at the beginning of the season for different reasons – (Ayegbeni) Yakubu wasn't ready, we had a couple of injuries.

"I think I probably did him a bit of damage. I think I should have waited a bit longer and got him off the bench, given him 20 or 30 minutes to get used to it.

"But what he did the other night is what everyone knows he is capable of – he scored a really good goal.

"I think scoring your first goal for any club is a big point, certainly a Premier League goal, and he'll feel much better for that, I'm sure."

Despite Beckford's effort and the return to fitness of Yakubu and Louis Saha, Moyes is still concerned by his team's lack of goals.

Yakubu's winner against Stoke City a fortnight ago is the only other lea