John Stones in race to be fit for Everton’s Monday meeting

Stones, 21, limped off during Tuesday’s 2-1 Capital One Cup third round win at Reading.

And that could see the England star sidelined for Monday’s visit to West Brom, with new signing Ramiro Funes Mori being offered an early chance to stake a claim with his full Premier League debut.

“The next 48 hours are going to be very important”.

“Seamus has already been working on the grass so he could well be involved in the game on Monday or maybe in the next game“, added Martinez.

The Toffees have got off to a mixed start in the Premier League, with three draws, two wins and a defeat leaving them in sixth place.

Swansea City captain Ashley Williams says that Everton’s John Stones is one of the best players he has played against during his career.

Martinez was asked about what would be considered as success for the side this season, but side-stepped the question like a man who was managing expectations after some pleasing performances from his side, stating that consistent displays are the best way to measure things at this moment in time.

“Now it’s about continuity”.

“You need to play well in order to get points over the course of the season so at this stage I’d rather have the performances than the points. In general terms we are very much aware of the level of competition we’ve faced”.

The Spaniard came so close to guiding Everton into the Champions League in his debut season at Goodison Park and is confident it can be achieved if the team focus on themselves and start putting together good results on a regular basis. Our levels of performances have been better than our points return.

“He’s obviously still young so he’s still learning certain parts of the game, but Ross has got all the ability to go on and be a really top player”.

Everton will hope to maintain their five-game unbeaten run at the Hawthorns on Monday night, with the clash kicking off at 20:00 UK Time.