Everton have won ALL 7 of the games in which Martinez has made two or more changes to his lineup.

Unchanged, the Toffees have won just once in 6 games this season.

Bit of a whizz-kid with the rotations then is our Roberto they've worked every time.

I'm starting to believe Roberto is a genius.

Oviedo looks very comfortable playing in midfield to me, a definite plus there. When you think about it, our squad is not as bare as some make out.

We started without 7 first team players today!

Howard, Jagielka, Barry, Gibson, Mirallas, Pienaar and Deulofeu.

Two more decent signings will see us nicely through the second half of the season. That's two losses from the first half of the season.... I believe.

Depends what you compare it with. Compared to the size of squad and strength in depth of the teams that tend to finish in the top four it is still 'weak'.

That doesn't mean we don't have quality players or can't compete with pretty much anyone on our day, but it does mean that three of our most valuable contributors this season don't belong to us, we are partially reliant on experienced pros being able to perform consistently well into their 'twilight years', we have several squad members who have worrying injury histories, and unless we strengthen in January we will need a tremendous amount of luck with injuries for the second half of the season (which will be the most grueling) to stay in contention.

Alongside their supposed frugality, kopites will also tell you their squad is now as small as ours. Well, there are plenty of their players I wouldn't look twice at but I wouldn't mind seeing what I could do with the money they have cost in transfer fees and wages, and they are able to loan out the likes of Assaidi and Borini to other Premier League clubs. When we can do that then I will accept that we at least have achieved parity with the sort of team we are looking to out-compete.

Every player is for sale with our ownership, so every player could be playing elsewhere next season. Add two decent first team players and we have enough depth.

Martinez isn't looking for excuses why we can't compete, so it's bizarre that some of the support are intent on finding reasons why we will fail.

Part of being a squad goes beyond the here and now, and I would hope people at the club are looking at things long-term and with an eye on continuity. We are not going to sell a large group of our current players any time soon, but we could lose a significant proportion of them before next season (or during the second half of this one) for a number of different reasons. Call it preparing, as best you can, for worst case scenarios.

If the manager is looking for further progress next season, he will not wait until the summer transfer window to start integrating potential replacements in the event that we don't get to keep hold of Lukaku and Deulofeu, and really they need to be of the same quality which we probably can't conjure from our ranks of injured or the U21s.

Useful as these players are we are essentially developing them for someone else's benefit not our own, and their presence is masking the deficiencies in our squad that would ideally be filled with players we can decide the fate of.

I am not saying we shouldn't use the loan system as much as we can, just that it is not the ideal solution and potentially a large gamble if we come to rely on just the right players being available year on year to make up our squad numbers.

We all thought Heitinga's departure was a foregone conclusion. But now, with Jags out for a month, our CBs are a newcomer with a history of injury and a 36-year-old who has played every minute this season.

And their only cover is a brilliant teenager who has never yet played CB for the first team.

So does Roberto keep Heitinga through the January window? Or let him go and bring in another loaner? Or go with what he's got now?

Interesting decision.

Coleman's goal was world class, and the right flank are now ahead of the left and didn't know we were above Liverpool until MotD2. That put a smile on my face. That and Suarez rolling around and getting nothing.

Shame about Robles's mistake, he looks like a decent 'keeper.

And bring Garbutt back!

That's where all this confidence comes from. Next time anyone gets annoyed at Martinez's positivity, remember that he's built a system that he and the players believe in. He's also encouraging players who can break out of the system and do the extraordinary, like Seamus, Ross and Del.

We won yesterday because we had better quality in both boxes. Other than his moistake I liked Robles. I'd like to see at least one more forward to give us more up front, especially if Lukaku and Del leave in the summer.

"When you think about it, our squad is not as bare as some make out."
Depends what you compare it with.

Well, across the park, Brenda's been moaning to the press about lack of squad size.
Apparently they've no strength in depth compared to the big boys in the top 4 and will have to get the cheque book out (unusually!) in January apparently.

All together ..... aaaagh.

I remember afterwards Klinsmann said that the players had such a belief in themselves and their system that they knew they were going to win.

Well the buggers did and I'm getting the same feel from this team.

Here's hoping.......

Like you, my heart bleeds for the poor hard-done-by muppets.