Roberto Martinez praises Everton character

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has insisted that he is happy with the performance of his team despite seeing them let slip a one-goal lead to draw with Hull City.

Romelu Lukaku's first-half effort was cancelled out by Sone Aluko, but after the Toffees played their third game in seven days, Martinez was quick to praise his side's character after the draw at Goodison Park.

The Spaniard told BBC Sport: "In the first half, we did enough to win the game, but you don't win games with one-goal margins.

"I'm incredibly proud of the effort of the players. In the second half, we were disrupted when Leighton Baines got a knock to the nose and got punished when Hull got the goal, and we didn't have the energy to get the winning goal.

"With the number of games, it's incredibly high. The effort and character was magnificent. They came here with a clear approach - a lot of energy and made it difficult to break them down. Hull were ruthless in taking their chance."

Everton remain in 11th position after the result on Merseyside.