Everton would be ´foolish´ to look ahead, says Martinez

Roberto Martinez says it would be “foolish” for Everton to look too far ahead as they aim to bring European football back to Goodison Park.

Everton currently lie sixth in the Premier League, which is likely to carry UEFA Europa League qualification after Manchester City’s League Cup success.

However, Manchester United sit just three points behind as they look to claw success back from a stuttering season.

And, with 11 league matches still to come as well as Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final tie with Arsenal, the Spaniard is imploring everyone at the club to look no further than the next game.

“It would be very foolish to talk about the possibility (of qualifying for Europe),” he said.

“This is the most important moment of the season, the squad is ready now to face the last 11 games and we are in the quarter-final so it’s the last thing you want to be talking about right now.

“We want to finish as high as we can and then we’ll prepare for whatever’s next.”

Martinez also conceded that qualifying for Europe would result in him needing to significantly boost his squad to cope with the added workload.

Only 15 Everton players have made 10 or more appearances in the Premier League this season, highlighting Martinez’s tight squad and the former Wigan Athletic boss accepts he would need to strengthen.

He told The Liverpool Echo: “Europe is obviously an aim we need to fight for. To be able to compete in Europe would stretch us massively in terms of the squad.

“One hundred per cent we’d need to increase the size of our squad.

“Europe has different demands and that has to be reflected in the numbers you have in the squad and the type of player you bring in too.

“Sometimes you need to bring in experienced players at an international level.”