Skip to content

Premier League: Everton boss expecting team to pick up big Christmas points haul

Roberto Martinez Everton Prem Lge
Image: Roberto Martinez: Expecting Everton to go on good run

Roberto Martinez says he fully expects his players to rise to the challenge of a packed festive programme, starting with the trip to Southampton on Saturday.

The Spaniard insisted that a good run over Christmas would give the club the ideal platform in which to target the top four in the new year, before the demands of the Europa League kick in again in February.

Everton travel to off-colour Saints - one of their rivals for a place in the top six despite being on a run of five straight defeats in all competitions - before facing Stoke, Newcastle and Hull in quick succession.

I do feel this period of 12 days will be significant to see what we do in the second half of the season
Roberto Martinez

"The games we have now in the league are very important for us. It is probably a very important period for us to see what we do in the second half of the season," said Martinez.

'Concentration'

"The European competition has been a success and we will take that over in February but now all the concentration goes into the league. I do feel this period of 12 days will be significant to see what we do in the second half of the season.

"The group is getting stronger physically, the mentality has gone to another level and the only thing we can be critical about is we haven't got the points we should have in the league.

"That is something we need to learn. Sometimes it is a good knack to have as a team that you don't have to be perfect to get full points and the top teams do that and I don't think we have done that.

"We had to be perfect every time to get the three points. That is something we need to work on and understand how to do it, but I have been very excited about the second half of the season because I can see something special building in the dressing room."

Around Sky