Friday 5 February 2016 13:44, UK
Romelu Lukaku is expected to fit for Everton's clash with Stoke City on Saturday despite being forced off with a back problem in the Toffees' midweek win over Newcastle.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez admits there was concern over the Belgium international after reporting that he could not feel the back of his legs following the 3-0 win at Goodison Park.
Martinez insists Lukaku is always determined to play through pain and injury and, because of this, expects him to be fit for the trip to the Britannia after they assess his condition later on Friday.
"He looked a lot freer yesterday. He is back to himself," Martinez said. "After the game he found it difficult to walk without pain, it was a really difficult injury because all of a sudden he couldn't feel the back of his legs and we were worried but there is no further damage.
"We will make an assessment based on how he does in training but he never wants to miss games.
"Even when he had the knock in the game he wanted to run it off and stayed on the pitch for 12 or 13 minutes where he couldn't run around.
"He is reliable and that is why I am positive about him being available because he knows how to make himself available for games.
"It is always important to have that consistency throughout the season and Rom has been giving us that and I hope he will be pain free."
Martinez has confirmed Kevin Mirallas is back in contention following an injury of his own, but this weekend will come too soon for goalkeeper Tim Howard, who is close to making a return from a knee problem.
Joel Robles is set for his fourth successive start in goal and Martinez praised the former Wigan's goalkeeper progress.
Martinez added: "It shows you we have a phenomenal goalkeeper ready to take his opportunity. You need players who are ready to wait for their opportunities and Joel has done that really well.
"It has taken incredible help from Tim himself and there is good chemistry between those two and the goalkeeping coach - that is what you need in a football team.
"Two clean sheets back-to-back in different competitions shows we are ready to kick on and football makes the decisions - we hope Joel will continue to enjoy his football."
