Martinez backs Mirallas to make an impact

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes Kevin Mirallas will have a big part to play in the rest of the campaign, having not featured for over a month.

Mirallas was shown a straight red card in the 0-0 draw with Swansea City on September 19, which earned him a three-match suspension from the Football Association.

The Belgium international missed Premier League clashes against West Brom and Liverpool, as well as a League Cup tie against Reading, and was an unused substitute in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United last weekend.

With a trip to face Arsenal looming this Saturday, Martinez has underlined the importance of Mirallas to his squad.

“Kevin has been unfortunate at the start of the season, with little niggles and then the sending off which was harsh,” the Spaniard said in Thursday’s news conference.

“Now he’s been working well and I expect Kevin to enjoy a good period.

“Kevin is a really important player for us and that will never change. I expect Kevin to start that momentum and that goalscoring threat he brings is very important for us.”

Martinez also had words of praise for 19-year-old defender Brendon Galloway, who has featured at left-back in the absence of the injured regular first choice Leighton Baines.

“Brendon is surprising everyone,” Martinez said. “His maturity is very impressive. We’ve been pleased in the way he’s adapted and the way he’s growing game by game.

“Clearly we’ve got someone quite special for the future.

“We measure it game by game and see how he comes through but at the moment he’s doing really, really well. It’s important that we have good competition for places.”