Everton manager Roberto Martinez has hailed his players following their win over Stoke City in the Premier League Asia Trophy.

The Toffees reached the final of the pre-season tournament in Singapore on Wednesday as they beat the Potters in a penalty shootout after a goalless 90 minutes.

Waiting for Everton in the final will be Arsenal, who earned a comfortable 4-0 victory over Singha Thai All Star XI.

"It was a good game for both - Stoke and ourselves will have got a lot out of it in terms of preparation," Martinez told the club's official website.

"When we got to the decisive penalty shootout, it was good that we scored every single one of them. The concentration was terrific and Tim Howard was at his very best. It was great to see the composure from the players. It's good now to look forward to the final."

While admitting that his side are still lacking some sharpness, Martinez believes that they are looking dangerous ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

"You can see signs that all the volume we have been putting in throughout pre-season already is showing," the Spaniard added. "We are missing a little bit of sharpness, finding the final pass or in front of goal. But the hardest thing in football is to create chances and so what was very good was to see the clear-cut chances that we made."

Everton face Arsenal in the final on Saturday.

Written by
Jack Prescott