Roberto Martinez praises kids despite Everton's 1-0 Europa League defeat to Krasnodar

Posted Friday, December 12, 2014 by skysports.com

Roberto Martinez praises kids despite Everton's 1-0 Europa League defeat to Krasnodar
Roberto Martinez saw his side beaten 1-0 by Krasnodar

Roberto Martinez was delighted to give youth a chance at Goodison Park despite Everton’s 1-0 defeat to Krasnodar in their final Europa League group match.

Martinez gave a debut to 17-year-old midfielder Ryan Ledson, who captained England to the Under-17 European Championship title and has led the national Under-18 side this season.

Youngsters Luke Garbutt and Conor McAleny were handed starts, while Kieran Dowell and Tyias Browning came on as substitutes to bring a youthful look to the home side.

Martinez said: "I thought the youngsters were cagey in the first half but they expressed themselves in the second. That was very pleasing to see.

"Developing our youngsters is part of what we want to achieve. They will have learned a lot and I'm very proud of the work we do.

Roberto Martinez praises kids despite Everton's 1-0 Europa League defeat to Krasnodar
Arouna Kone played the full 90 minutes for Martinez's men, putting in a strong performance

"I have a clear idea now of which youngsters are ready to help the first team and which ones can help with more development."

Arouna Kone, blighted by injury problems since joining from Wigan last season, played the full match at Goodison Park, putting in strong performance in the eye of Martinez.

However, loan midfielder Christian Atsu was forced off early on with a hamstring injury.

"I was very impressed by Kone," Martinez added. "He looked sharp and powerful for the full 90 minutes. His hold-up play was very strong.

"The only real negative of the night was Christian straining his hamstring. We will assess him."

Martinez’s side still finished top of Group H despite the defeat, finishing a point ahead of Wolfsburg ahead of the draw for the knockout stage on Monday.