Martinez understands supporter unrest

Roberto Martinez says he accepts the unrest of Everton fans after the team’s winless streak in the Premier League extended to six games with a 1-1 draw against Southampton.

Everton are without a win in any competition since their FA Cup quarter-final victory over Chelsea on March 12, having won just four games at Goodison Park in the league this term.

After yet again throwing away a lead in Saturday’s clash, given to them by Ramiro Funes Mori midway through the second half, they will now amass their lowest points tally at home in a top-flight campaign.

And, although he claimed Everton’s underwhelming display was due to the impact of having to make six changes to his starting line-up ahead of the Merseyside derby on Wednesday and FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United next weekend, the manager claimed he is not surprised by the supporters’ frustrations.

“Looking at our results at home, they are not anywhere near what is expected,” Martinez said. “We need to turn that around starting with understanding the responsibility of being at Everton is to win games on a consistent basis.

“We haven’t been producing the results and I accept that there is unrest. But we are still involved in big games and now we want to give our fans something to be proud of.

“It was a tough game for us, and we were facing a team probably in the opposite of that, with a really good continuity and in a really good moment of form.

“We had to make six changes and looked disjointed and rusty. We weren’t at the level we needed to be but what I was pleased with was how we found other ways to be competitive.

“But the disappointment is when we go ahead and we don’t win. We got really stretched as a squad and we found a way to compete against a good Southampton side.”

Everton’s afternoon was made worse when Seamus Coleman picked up a hamstring injury early in the second half.

Martinez, who expressed his delight at the performances of youngsters Callum Connolly and Tom Davies, believes it is unlikely the full-back will be fit for the games against Liverpool and Manchester United.

“He [Coleman] felt his hamstring, so we’ll have to assess him in the morning but it is hard to imagine that he’ll be involved in the games this week,” said Martinez.