Roberto Martinez praises Tim Howard after Manchester City draw
Friday 15 January 2016 12:54, UK
Roberto Martinez hailed a "huge performance" from Tim Howard after Everton's goalless draw with Manchester City at the Etihad.
Howard has come in for criticism at times this season, with some fans calling for him to be replaced by Joel Robles.
However, he produced a man-of-the-match display on his 350th Premier League appearance on Wednesday night, saving well from Yaya Toure in the first half and then denying Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling after the break.
"It was a huge performance," Toffees boss Martinez told Sky Sports. "I never thought it was in doubt. He [Howard] is such an experienced character and he takes responsibility if he faces any sort of adversity.
"He has the influence that you like to have in a dressing room with lots of young players. The way he trains on a daily basis allows you to see he is going to perform well.
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"We all have good moments of form and bad moments, and a goalkeeper will always be highlighted in certain moments, but today he showed he is a very valuable part of our squad and a really special footballer."
The draw maintains Everton's impressive away record in the league this season, with the Toffees conceding just nine times on the road and only losing once.
"In the second half, we allowed City to have more possession than we wanted but we looked really resilient and defended very well," said Martinez. "The mentality we displayed was enormous. Man City have the best home record in the league and to keep a clean sheet in the manner we did was very impressive and shows strong resilience and incredible character."
While Everton have picked up some good results away from home, they have only won three times at Goodison this season.
Asked about their contrasting fortunes at home and on the road, Martinez said: "We want to please the fans at home, win games and score goals, sometimes that means you lose a bit of focus in the defensive duties, but the style is the same, the personnel is the same.
"It's part of the learning process but you look at the experience we had at the back today. Phil Jagielka and Tim Howard showed incredible know-how and guidance to our youngsters. The resilience of the side shows you that we are getting ready for a strong second half of the season."
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