Intro:

Everton head coach Roberto Martinez said the UEFA Europa League is the perfect place for his team to test themselves as they return to Europe after a five-year absence with a home match against Wolfsburg on Thursday (18th September).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Martinez, Everton head coach:
(On Everton returning to Europe)

"Everton (got its first) European taste 52 years ago. So this is nothing new. This is something that should be part of our day to day work. We're very excited as you can imagine. We've been working hard for 12 months to achieve this. The Europa League now is a great competition is probably where we need to be testing ourselves. The only way to be fulfilling our potential is to play games like the one we are going to face tomorrow."

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberto Martinez, Everton head coach:
(On the difference of playing in Europe compared to the English Premier League)

"As a team we should be able to get really important experience from this competition. It's a completely different tempo, it's even a different physicality from the referee's point of view. We are going to have an Italian referee who is very, very good, but it's going to be different to the contact and the level of physicality that is allowed in our games in the Premier League. So all in all it's an experience that we need to benefit from."