Season › 2013-14 › News Martinez confident Blues can cope without Koné Lyndon Lloyd , 8 November, 0comments | Jump to most recent Roberto Martinez isn't unduly concerned by the loss of Arouna Koné to long-term injury, saying that he has enough attacking options at the moment. Speaking to evertontv, the manager explained that he will assess the situation between now and January when he has the option of bolstering his squad when the transfer window opens. “We have still got two outstanding options in Romelu Lukaku and Nikica Jelavic,— Martinez said. “Both are players in a good moment of form and have been working really well. “You look through the squad and we have other players who can play in that position. Steven Naismith has been playing in that role for his national side and Kevin Mirallas played that role with Olympiakos. We are not short in that position,” he continued. He admitted that losing Koné for what could be the remainder of the season before the Ivorian has had a chance to repay his manager's faith following a £6m move from Wigan, was a blow. “Obviously you don't want to lose Arouna Koné: in the same way that we didn't want to lose Darron Gibson — but those things happen in football. “All we want now is to give support to Arouna and Darron and get them back as quick as we can so that we make sure they have that aim to get back fully fit before the season ends. That's what we are going to do as a football club.” While the transfer window remains closed, Koné's layoff provides other players with an opportunity to press their claims for a place on the bench as well, although Martinez stressed that the opportunity to step up is always there. “Whatever you do on the training ground matters,” the Spaniard said. “I don't think you need to have an injury to a player to give them an opportunity. “I want to believe there will be opportunities for players in the squad, with or without injuries, if they do well and work well on a daily basis.” Koné is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove a piece of floating cartilage in his knee and faces months of rehabilitation. The 29 year-old suffered the injury in a rare substitute's appearance against Hull City last month, having recovered from a series of niggling complaints since the start of the season. Quotes or other material sourced from EvertonFC.com About these ads © ToffeeWeb