Gareth Barry

Roberto Martinez says that he remains confident that the club can cope without the presence of Gareth Barry for the upcoming clash with Arsenal at Goodison Park.

The former Aston Villa and Manchester City midfielder has been an enormous presence in the centre of the park for Everton. He has provided the quality and experience required to deal with tight pressure situations. He was a major factor in the 2-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-final. Barry was involved in a number of altercations with opposition striker Diego Costa, which resulted in the Spaniard being sent off for a second yellow card.

Minutes after Costa was off the pitch, Barry also received a red card that will now rule him out of the next two games for Everton. One of those matches is against Arsenal, who are fighting to remain in the title race. Following their exits from the Champions League and FA Cup win back-to-back games, the gunners are expected to come with full force to win this match at any cost. Martinez says that Everton are not a one-man team and that they should cope with the loss of Barry for this match. The Spaniard, though, acknowledged that Barry has been impressive for the club this season and has run the most amongst Everton players.

“We are quite strong in every department - that's what's pleasing. We never look to have excuses for having players not available. We'll never go down that route.The squad is ready and players have been working really hard. It's going to be great to see what a new partnership can bring to the side.But, clearly, Gareth Barry has been an incredible influence in the last three seasons, none more so than in this campaign, where he has been involved in every Premier League game,” said Martinez.