Martinez: Traore has been working hard behind the scenes to get fit
Everton manager Roberto Martinez was delighted with the goalscoring introduction of new on-loan striker Lacina Traore.
The big Ivorian made his Everton debut following his on-loan move from AS Monaco and helped his new club to a 2-1 win over Swansea City with a goal and Martinez revealed that the striker has been working extra hard to get himself fit following nearly 5 months without a game.
“I was really pleased,” the Spaniard told evertontv. “I think he has been working really hard behind the scenes to allow himself to get fully fit.
“It was the perfect game for a striker to come in and get tested. It was Premier League opposition and you know that Swansea are going to test the discipline and concentration of the forward line because they play from the back. I thought Lacina took on board all the instructions and responsibility and so I was very pleased with that.
“You can see he is a completely different type of player than what we have got in the squad – he has real pace to burn, movement in the box and a clinical finish. Overall it’s a nice positive sign.”
He said: “To see Lacina play 60 minutes in these circumstances is a real achievement and he led the line really well.
“I’m really excited and pleased for him, and now we have to get him in a position to recover so he can help the team next week.”
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