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Martinez upbeat despite defeat

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 15 Jul 2013

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Roberto Martinez remains positive about Everton’s development despite defeat in their opening pre-season encounter with Austria Vienna.

The Spaniard watched on as they fell to a 2-1 loss to the Austrian champions on Sunday but found plenty of positives after getting a good look at the bulk of his squad.

A first-half double from Marko Stankovic put the hosts in control and although Greek striker Apostolos Vellios grabbed a goal back for Everton, they were unable to complete the comeback.

Martinez, though, was content to focus on the quality of his side’s display.

“The game was more of a physical exercise than anything else,” he told the club’s official website. “It’s been a very successful week.

“We’ve accumulated a lot of work and that’s been exactly what we needed and it’s given us a very good platform. Today was just to get a run out and we gave everyone 45 minutes more or less.

“We were playing against a side who are one week away from the start of their season and that’s what we wanted – we wanted to push ourselves to the maximum from a physical point of view, and I thought we responded really well.

“There were many things where you could see the rustiness in our play but it was the culmination of an important week of work that is going to take us back to Finch Farm now, where we can carry on our preparations for the season.”

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