EVERTON boss Sam Allardyce is set to welcome back Wayne Rooney for tomorrow's trip to Cherries – but is still keen to sign a new striker.

The Toffees sold Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United in the summer and have frequently struggled to score this season.

Allardyce watched his side draw 0-0 against West Brom and Chelsea either side of Christmas, games which Toffees top scorer Rooney missed due to illness.

Asked about being linked with Turkish forward Cenk Tosun this week, Allardyce said: "Him and many others, because we need a frontman if we can find one.

"I need more goals in the side if we are to maintain our position. We've started to struggle to score goals in recent matches, so it's still one of the major problems we have.

"We've got more penalties than anybody else in the Premier League, which has contributed to a few points, but that won't always happen.

"So we need to strengthen in goalscoring areas and that, for me, means new players."

James McCarthy, sidelined since October, should be fit for selection against Cherries but Idrissa Gueye remains a doubt due to a hamstring complaint.

While knee injury victim Ross Barkley does not look set to be involved, Allardyce said the England international was "very close to being available".