Everton midfielder Stephen Pienaar is grateful for the public praise from manager Dave Moyes.

Earlier this week Moyes declared Pienaar the creative stalwart of his side and a key factor in the recent return to form.

"When you come back from two months injured it's always difficult," he told the evertonTV. "And, in fairness, it's not like I was walking into a team that was playing really nice football. It's difficult because you come in and you really want to prove they've been missing you. You put pressure on yourself.

"That's just the way I am, I always push myself and pressure myself to do better. So far I'm not really happy with the way I've played. I know it will take time to get back to the form I was in.

"I don't read the newspapers but for the manager to say what he did is an honour. In my career I've always created a lot of goals and if you look back [to my time] at Ajax I created more goals there than any other player, almost. But I don't score, that's the downfall."

Pienaar signed permanently in the summer from Borussia Dortmund and added: "The contract has changed but it's still the same here and everything is still good for me. I'm having fun and I'm really happy I'm fit."