Everton vs Newcastle - Martinez backs Stones to bounce back

Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2016 by PA

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has backed John Stones to bounce back quickly from his first real shaky spell at the club.

The England centre-back has endured a tough January by his usually high standards with a number of noticeable errors and lapses.

He was withdrawn after 77 minutes of their Capital One Cup semi-final exit to Manchester City after a lapse of concentration allowed Sergio Aguero to score what turned out to be the winner, having contributed to Swansea's opener the Sunday before with a poorly-judged backpass.

Stones' miscalculations have directly led to eight goals for the season, with seven of those in the last three months, and he was left on the bench for the FA Cup fourth round win at Carlisle.

But Martinez has no doubts about recalling the 21-year-old, who was the subject of a failed B£38million bid by Chelsea last summer, to the centre of defence for Wednesday's visit of Newcastle as he is no longer required to cover for Seamus Coleman at right-back.

"You are talking about a player of 21 who has played over 92 percent of the minutes in the league, which is a phenomenal return." he said.

"When you reach the level of John Stones you are going to get that scrutiny and John is strong enough mentally to understand that is going to be his role in professional football and representing England for the next 15-20 years.

"John is such a strong-minded boy and has been through a lot over the last eight months but has done it professionally. In those moments you need to know who you can trust and you need fair criticism and fair evaluation of your performances.

"It is not an issue."

Deadline-day signing Oumar Niasse, a B#13.5million signing from Lokomotiv Moscow, will not be eligible until Saturday's trip to Stoke but Martinez expects the Senegal international to adapt quickly.

"He is a player we have been tracking for a long time, the first time we saw him was in the first week of September and since then we have been very close trying to find out about his character," he added.

"He has a very specific family situation as his wife is English and from the north west and he has been following our team and the way we play and it was a real conscious desire to join us and that has been important.

"We didn't think he would become available but when we saw he was we moved very quickly.

"It was a sign of being precise in what we wanted; we moved two players from the first-team squad (Steven Naismith was sold to Norwich and Aiden McGeady loaned to Sheffield Wednesday) and we brought in a 25-year-old who has been successful in two European leagues.

"He is not back-up for anyone, he has his own ability and is someone who can stretch defenders and can cope with the physicality of the Premier League."

Meanwhile, Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren has admitted a successful deadline-day swoop for West Brom striker Saido Berahino would have come as a bonus.

The Magpies tabled a B£21million bid for Berahino on Sunday as they attempted to beat off interest from Tottenham and Stoke, but then endured a frustrating final day of the January window as a deafening silence from the Hawthorns killed their hopes.

McClaren nevertheless has seen his squad boosted by four new faces - Jonjo Shelvey, Henri Saivet, Andros Townsend and loan signing Seydou Doumbia - at a total cost of around B£29million, and he is happy with the club's business.

Asked if the failure to land Berahino had come as a disappointment, he said: "No, I think it would have been a bonus. The board, when we got together and discussed it, it was ambitious, it was out there making a statement and I think it would have been a bonus if it had come off.

"It's not, so we go with what we have got and it's a very, very good squad now."

The Magpies head for Everton sitting inside the Barclays Premier League relegation zone and in desperate need of a run of results to ease their fears.

However McClaren, who will have full-back Paul Dummett available after injury and midfielder Jack Colback close to a return, is confident they will have enough to avoid the drop.

He said: "We are delighted with what we have got and [it's] enough to see us through and score goals.

"This window was important. I am very pleased with it. I think we have got very good players to add to the squad. Now we have to gel everybody together and the last third of the season, really go for it."

Doumbia will hope for some involvement at Everton, although that was out of both his and McClaren's hands on Tuesday afternoon as the Ivory Coast international awaited the arrival of the visa he needs to be able to play.