Roberto Martinez hails Everton's "great character"

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has praised the 'great character and belief' shown by his side in their 6-3 defeat at the hands of Chelsea this evening.

The Toffees found themselves two goals behind early on at Goodison Park, but they repeatedly hit back in what was a thrilling contest.

Debutant Samuel Eto'o scored against his former side with 15 minutes remaining to set up what looked to be a gripping finale, only for Ramires and Diego Costa to round off the scoring to ensure that Chelsea took all three points.

"I can imagine it was a great game to watch from a neutral point of view but our point of view was that we started too slow," Martinez told BBC Sport. "But even then I felt we showed great character and great belief and I felt we were getting back into it, but every time we did we were dealt a sucker punch.

"Our defending was not as good as it should be. We need to make sure our good play gets a lot more support from having a more solid defensive display.

"We should have protected Tim Howard a lot better. But we take responsibility as a team and in the same way promote all the good things we have. We have the experience and the know how. There were positives, Romelu Lukaku lasting along as he did and Samuel Eto'o arriving and having the impact he did."

Everton, who are currently 16th in the Premier League table, return to action in a fortnight's time when they take on West Bromwich Albion.